In a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 22, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen voted to shorten the standard 85-day time frame for municipal elections to fill the vacancy on the board created by a recent resignation as quickly as possible.
In the shortened time frame, nomination papers for the selectman’s seat will become available Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the Wiscasset town office, and will be due 10 days later, Wiscasset Town Clerk Linda Perry said.
The election will be held Tuesday, Jan. 31. The new 54-day time frame is what is needed to give the public proper notification of nomination papers, prepare absentee ballots, and hold the election, Perry said.
Chair Judy Colby commended Perry for her work to research the legal process for holding a municipal election in a shortened time frame, despite the wait that will still be involved in holding the election.
Selectmen pushed to hold an election as soon as possible after Selectman Judy Flanagan announced her resignation from the board Nov. 15. Flanagan’s two-year term on the board is set to expire in June, when the seat will again be up for election.
By holding the election in January, the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen will be a five-member board as it enters the budget-setting process for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
“I think we’re doing the right thing,” Colby said.
