State clears Winterport selectman in ballot flap

WINTERPORT — The state Attorney General’s Office has cleared Roland Ginn, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, of alleged absentee ballot improprieties and of any subsequent penalties.

In a recent letter to Ginn, Assistant Attorney General William R. Stokes wrote that Ginn’s ballot violations were unintentional and inadvertent. Furthermore, the incident did not affect the outcome of the March election, which Ginn won.

“While ignorance of the law is generally no excuse, we see absolutely no value to be gained by commencing a criminal prosecution against Mr. Ginn,” Stokes said.

Ginn revealed the investigation during a selectmen’s meeting on July 24. An investigator at the Attorney General’s Office in Augusta confirmed next day that the department was looking into the selectman’s acceptance and delivery of absentee ballots.

According to Ginn, a man from the Attorney General’s Office visited his residence Friday, July 13. The man talked with him for three hours, and said that Samuel Butler, who also ran for a seat on the board in March but lost, registered the complaint.

It is well known in Winterport that although Ginn and Butler operated on friendly terms at one time, that is no longer the case.

Butler said that his actions were not the result of sour grapes between the two men. But a candidate running for public office who distributes absentee ballots, he added, is acting illegally, and so he reported it to the authorities.

The facts of this investigation appear to be undisputed, the letter said.

Ginn readily admits that the town clerk gave him two absentee ballots, which he delivered to an elderly couple in February, as the couple was physically unable to get to the polls on election day.

The couple’s son returned the paperwork to Ginn, who delivered it to the Town Office. The clerk noticed the applications were not signed, and mailed them back to the couple. Once the paperwork was in order the son delivered it to Ginn, who again dropped the paperwork off at the Town Office.

“We can find absolutely no evidence to suggest that Mr. Ginn deliberately attempted to violate or evade the law, or that he otherwise acted in bad faith,” the letter said.

The Attorney General’s Office also stated that last March was the first election in which Ginn was involved since enactment of the new legislation, and noted that the selectmen and town officials who knew of his actions simply overlooked the new law.