A Boothbay/Boothbay Harbor man who pleaded guilty to voter fraud in 2010 has successfully completed his community service. His plea has been withdrawn and the felony conviction has been dropped.
Derek Abbot, 44, lives on property that straddles the town line between Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor. For years, Abbott voted in both towns because he felt local issues in both towns affected him.
Now that his record has been cleared, Abbott said he plans to pursue a change to state law that would allow him to vote on local issues in both towns.
“I pay taxes” in both towns, Abbott said in a 2010 interview following his guilty plea. “If I have a problem with what’s going on, what am I supposed to do? If one of the towns would pick my house and only their laws would apply to me, I’d be fine with it.”
Unfortunately, Abbott was also voting twice in state and federal elections, including presidential elections. Until investigators with the Attorney General’s office contacted him, Abbott was not aware that voting twice was illegal, he said at the time.
When he pleaded guilty to the felony charge of voting twice, he received a deferred disposition. Because he successfully completed 120 hours community service and was not convicted of any crimes in the last year, at a hearing on Dec. 29 in Lincoln County Superior Court, Abbott withdrew his guilty plea, the charges were dropped, and felony conviction was erased from his record.
Now, Abbott is hoping to take his case before the legislature and change the state law governing voting in multiple towns. “Shame on me for voting twice in the presidential elections, but as far as town issues are concerned, the mil rates change in both towns, and they both affect me,” Abbott said.
Abbott said District 61 Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay) plans to propose a bill in 2012 that would allow Abbott to vote in both towns on local matters.
“Hopefully it puts the whole thing right to rest,” Abbot said.
MacDonald said he has no idea how common Abbott’s situation is statewide or how much support such a bill might have, but said he agrees in principal that Abbott should have a say in both towns’ local issues. He clarified that his bill would only apply to fulltime residential properties that straddle town lines.
“It seems like an interesting conversation to have,” MacDonald said. “It embodies a great fundamental principal: no taxation without representation.”
