By June Valliere
No surprises at this year’s election which was held on April 1st since all the offices on the ballot were uncontested. All the Wayland candidates who ran were elected. Wayland is not atypical. This is part of a growing trend across the country, according to Ballotpedia.org. On average, 58% of elections were uncontested between 2018 and 2023 but in 2024 Ballotpedia stated 70% of the elections were uncontested. On November 5, 2024 Ballotpedia covered 40,646 elections in 50 states, including D.C. Their study covered all levels of government excluding the presidency.
There were 15 open slots for this election and only one incumbent for each opening with the exception of the Recreation Commissioner. Only one candidate was officially on the ballot when there were two openings. However, Trudy Reid, Town Clerk said two candidates told her they were running after the deadline to announce their candidacy so they were write-in candidates, Jeff Bergeron and Mike Grant. Grant pulled out before the election. According Reid, the majority vote determines the winner so if the write-in candidate gets two votes and there is no opposition that person wins the election. However, Bergeron won with 197 votes. There were write-in votes for all the open positions but they were nominal. Reid said that the state requires the towns to hold town elections even if there is no opposition. She said this gives write-in candidates an opportunity to run. According to Reid, it will cost the town around $10,000 to $12,000 to run the current election once they have paid for poll workers, police and for the electrical voting machines. When asked why she thought the election was uncontested, she said that people don’t know how town government works. Many people come from cities and others don’t know how to run for an elected office.
Generally, for past elections similar to this election, Reid said that voter turnout is about 10% to 14%. However, the voter turnout was even lower this year at 6.3%. She said the turnout is higher when multiple candidates are running for select board and school committee, then participation can be 30-40%. Although the election is uncontested, Reid said that it is important for people to support the candidates who are running and the poll workers who are at the polls for 10 – 12 hours.
