Special election for Barrington council seat will be delayed

Town officials had hoped to hold special election during November general election

Posted 8/28/18

The special election for an open town council seat has been postponed.

Barrington officials had planned to hold the special election for the open town council seat during the general election in …

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Special election for Barrington council seat will be delayed

Town officials had hoped to hold special election during November general election

Posted

The special election for an open town council seat has been postponed.

Barrington officials had planned to hold the special election for the open town council seat during the general election in November. But on Wednesday night, Aug. 22, members of the Rhode Island Board of Elections said they felt that the special election needed more lead-up time and voted to delay the event.

Barrington officials are now trying to identify a new date for the town council special election.

Initially there had been two seats open on the council — the seats currently filled by council members Michael Carroll and Stephen Primiano. Mr. Carroll and Mr. Primiano are both running for re-election, and challenger Jacob Brier has also declared his intentions to run for one of the council seats.

But on Aug. 7, Peter Dennehy announced he was resigning from the council because of medical reasons. Council members gathered to discuss the issue and later announced that there would be a special election for Mr. Dennehy's seat, and that the special election would be held during the November general election. 

Officials said a separate ballot would be given to voters as they headed to the polls in November. Local election officials had even selected Aug. 23 and 24 as the days when candidates could declare their intentions to run for the council seat.

But during a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 22, the RI Board of Elections said the town would have to find a new date for the special election. 

Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha said RI Board of Elections officials felt that having a declaration period in August might be missed by people who were away on vacation. Mr. Cunha said he believed it would be better having the special election during the general election in November — it would not create an additional cost to the town and officials would not have to close the schools, he said. 

"There's also better (voter) turnout in a general election," Mr. Cunha said.

After the RI Board of Elections issued its decision, town officials began planning for a new date for the special election. Mr. Cunha said he was hoping to find a date that would have minimal impact on the schools and taxpayer dollars.

"My proposal is to go forward with a February election," he said, adding that a primary, if necessary, would be held in January. The candidate declaration period would be in mid-December.

The town manager is also considering seeking legislative permission to reduce the number of polling locations necessary for the special election. He would like to see the five polling locations reduced to 1 or 2.

Mr. Cunha said an election typically costs the town about $8,500 if all the polling locations are kept open. 

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.