18-year-old survives recount in Lincoln High school senior ready to serve town after election upheld

LINCOLN – A ballot recount Thursday did not change the results of last week’s Town Council election. Eighteen-year-old Samuel Clay defeated two-term incumbent James Libby by one vote.

Each candidate gained one vote during the 21/2-hour ballot inspection and recount conducted by deputy Town Clerk Gilberte Mayo. The final tally was Clay, 367; and Libby, 366.

“I like it,” an elated Clay said after the results were announced. “I was very nervous. I didn’t know what would happen.”

Clay sat a table in the Town Council chambers during the recount, flanked by his attorney, Richard Broderick Sr., and older brother Stephen Clay, who was re-elected to a second term on the council last week. Libby sat next to the elder Clay.

Town Clerk Lisa Goodwin said 794 of Lincoln’s 3,515 registered voters cast ballots on Nov. 6. She characterized that as a “low turnout” for an election after the presidential election. The clerk conducted a recount in 1995 after a special election for council. The outcome in that race did not change either.

Members of the council who were not on the recent ballot oversaw Thursday’s recount and invalidated three ballots because they could not determine the voters’ intent. To be read by the electronic scanner, voters must fill in the space between the arrows next to a candidate’s name.

Voters had connected the arrows next to candidates’ names and put an X through the line. Councilors agreed that they could not determine whether voters wanted to cancel out a vote with the X or mistakenly put an X between the arrows, then, realizing their mistake, connected the arrows correctly.

At the end of the recount, Stephen Clay received 563 votes, the same number he received on Election Day. Jeff Gifford received three more votes than were counted on election night for a total of 574. Alan Grant, who withdrew from the race, received 256, the same number counted on Nov. 6.

After the recount, Libby said he was unsure whether he would run for office again next year.

“This just goes to prove that every vote counts,” he said. “People who didn’t get out and vote should have. I think this is a sign that people in Maine take things for granted just like people in other parts of the country do.”

Samuel Clay, a senior at Mattanawcook Academy, said his next step would be “to get right to work on improving Lincoln. … We need more business here to attract more people. What we need most are more people.”

The 18-year-old said he would take a year off after graduation before deciding whether he’ll attend college and where he might apply. He added that he intends to run for state Senate when he’s 25, the minimum age required by the state constitution.

That did not surprise Samuel Clay’s father, Hervey Clay, a local funeral director. He said Thursday that his son has been talking about running for office since he was 12.

“He turned 18 on August 23, and took out his nomination papers the day before his birthday,” he said after the recount. “I helped circulate his papers, but he campaigned on his own. I guess everybody in town who voted for him can claim their vote put him over the top.”