Absentee ballot deadline for Wednesday vote is tomorrow

LEBANON, Maine - The deadline to request absentee ballots for next Wednesday's Special Election on the implementation of the town's recently approved five-person Board of Selectmen is tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 15.

The election has just one referendum item, which reads as follows:

To see if the town will vote to implement the previously-approved increase of the Select Board from 3 members to 5 members by electing 2 additional Select Board members at the 2019 annual election, one Board member to be elected for a 3-year term and one Board member to be elected for a 2-year term, thereafter all terms to be 3-year terms.

Selectmen said that after the measure was approved in November the citizen's petition showed no implementation procedure necessitating voter approval in the form of a dedicated referendum.

If the referendum is defeated town officials say three selectmen elected this June will all serve three-year terms, causing a three-selectmen turnover every three years.

Some residents in town had thought a defeat would cause the board to continue in its three-person format.

Voting next Wednesday will run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Lebanon Elementary School.

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