Jesus write-in ballots could swing recount

AUGUSTA – Members of the House Elections Committee were asked Monday to divine the intentions of three voters in House District 42 who wrote in “Jesus Christ” as their choice for president.

Tony Buxton, a lawyer for Joseph Brooks, a Winterport Democrat and the unofficial loser in the race, told the panel of four Republicans and four Democrats that Maine law clearly prohibits marking ballots with a distinguishing mark. In past decisions, unusual names have been known to include “Mickey Mouse” or “Bozo.”

“In this instance, what’s interesting about this is that a number of ballots that were straight Republican ballots had ‘Jesus Christ’ written in,” Buxton said. “In some cases, in place of President Bush, and in other cases, just in the write-in line. Are they distinguishing marks? Were they intended to signal that someone voted in a certain way in other races so that they could identify their ballot?”

Only three of the ballots carried the “Jesus” mark, but in a race as close as District 42, it could make a difference. The unofficial recount tally gave incumbent Rep. Jeffrey Kaelin, R-Winterport, a four-vote lead over Brooks with 26 disputed ballots and 19 challenged on grounds of voter eligibility by the local registrars of voters.

Even as the legislative panel weighed the arguments, Buxton and Dan Billings, representing Kaelin, were paring down the number of disputed ballots to an undisclosed number.

“If they throw all [of the ‘Jesus’] ballots out, we might have a problem,” Billings said. “But if they throw out one or two it won’t hurt us.”

Another issue in the District 42 race seemed to be closer to resolution as local voting officials made it clear 15 of the 19 voters challenged on eligibility had been determined to be eligible. While the voters were determined to be eligible after the election, affidavits may need to be taken to ensure the voters were eligible on Election Day.

“We want to make sure that those who have qualified since were in fact qualified on November 2,” Buxton said.

“They want to talk with the other people, but they don’t have any contrary evidence,” Billings said.

The panel took no votes Monday in either the House District 42 race or the House District 43 contest in which a recount left Jayne Crosby Giles, R-Belfast, the apparent loser against Walter Ash Jr., D-Belfast, by five votes. There are 30 disputed ballots in that race and eight that have been challenged by local voting officials. There are also three absentee ballots in District 43 that have yet to be counted in the final total.

Decisions in both districts have been deferred until the panel meets again on Friday when it could also review the disputed results of District 139 in which Michael J. McAlevey, D-Waterboro, has been declared the unofficial winner over Lawrence E. Jacobsen, R-Waterboro. More than 100 ballots in that race have been found that may not have been counted.

The House Elections Committee consists of Reps. Janet Mills, D-Farmington, chairman; Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick; Patricia A. Blanchette, D-Bangor; William J. Smith, D-Van Buren; Joshua A. Tardy, R-Newport; Roger L. Sherman, R-Hodgdon; David N. Ott, R-York; and Kevin J. Glynn, R-South Portland.