Roger Condit casts his ballot for the Farmington election Monday afternoon, March 28. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

FARMINGTON — Voters went to the polls Monday, March 28, to elect officials for positions that were unopposed or had no one seeking them, but the results were not what some might have thought.

Incumbent Michael Fogg and Dennis O’Neil were seeking three-year seats on the Select Board. The ballot featured their names with space to write in up to two other candidates. The ballot also said to vote for not more than two. In all 327 ballots were cast.

Byron Staples was written in on 160 ballots. Current Selectman Joshua Bell, not seeking reelection was written in on 159. O’Neil received 112 votes while Fogg received 96.

The turnout was unexpected, Staples said Tuesday. “I had talked to a lot of people in town, said I was interested in running,” he noted. “I got a lot of feedback from that. I was hopeful I would be able to win, do my service for the town.”

“Yes, I will totally accept,” Bell said Wednesday morning. “Obviously the citizens of Farmington took it upon themselves to write my name in. I feel I should honor what they did. It will be a privilege to serve them for another three years.”

Even though he had had other plans, Bell is looking forward to doing the best he can for the town and its people.

Seen is a sample of the ballot used Monday in the Farmington municipal elections. Screenshot

Also decided were two three-year seats on the Regional School Unit 9 Board of Directors. Alexander Creznic took out nomination papers for one seat. No one was seeking the other seat.

“It’s one person, one vote for that position,” Town Clerk Leanne Dickey said while at the polls that afternoon. “Whoever gets the most votes is elected unless they choose not to.”

The town doesn’t have a charter saying the selectmen fill the vacancy should no one seek the position, she noted.

Seats on the RSU 9 Board were determined using the same format as for selectmen.

Creznic received 195 votes. Janice David received 60, winning the seat over another write-in candidate Katherine Boulay who received 29 votes.

David said she decided to seek the position at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning. She had served previously on the board for 11 years but didn’t want to serve again, she noted.

“A few of us were talking, trying to find someone to serve,” David said. “We asked more than a dozen people. Somebody asked, ‘Whose name do we write in?’ and I said, ‘Write in mine.'”

“People are fighting and dying in Ukraine for the kind of freedom we have here,” she noted.

David started making phone calls, said she couldn’t stand the idea of there being an open seat.

“I didn’t know there was another person [to be written in], I didn’t know her,” she said.

Voting throughout the day was light, ballot clerk Shane Cote said late afternoon. “The most we had was one family. There really hasn’t been any rush today.”

Typically there is a rush when the polls open, again at noon, then one in the evening, he said.

With absentee ballots, the count was about 200, Farmington Deputy Town Clerk Bonnie Baker said.

There were about four hours left to vote, Cote noted at the time.

Residents Roger Condit and his wife, Karyl were the only voters deciding their ballots then.

“I wasn’t aware of the voting until somebody called us,” Karyl said after submitting her ballot.

The annual town meeting will be held 7 p.m. May 9 in the Mt. Blue High School gym.