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Portsmouth Herald OGUNQUIT, Maine Bob Whitelaw thought he d be about a month into his first term on the town s Select Board by now, having been declared the winner of the March 30 special election and sworn in. After taking part in just two meetings as a member, however, Whitelaw was booted from the board last week. A group of townspeople had pointed out that too few votes were cast in the special election to meet the town charter s definition of a quorum, and Town Clerk Chris Murphy agreed. While I was aware of the quorum provision, it was my understanding that it applied to referendum questions and not candidate elections, Murphy said, explaining why she mistakenly declared Whitelaw the winner. After consulting with the Town Attorney, out of an abundance of caution, I have invalidated the results of the election. ....
Portsmouth Herald OGUNQUIT, Maine An overwhelming majority of voters who took part in last month s special election to fill a short-term vacancy on the town Select Board picked the one and only candidate on the ballot. Now the outcome of that uncontested race has been called into question because so few votes were cast. A group of townspeople argued Tuesday that both the special election and subsequent actions by the Select Board must be set aside. We apologize for not being able to send this information sooner, but we have only recently discovered this issue and ensuing ramifications for the Town, the group wrote in a memo to the Select Board. ....