'Denying people's voices': Quintal files bill to change mail-in ballot rules after recount

Yahoo

5 days ago

After both the official voting results and a recount failed to secure him an election victory, former Republican State Representative candidate and current Taunton City Councilor Larry Quintal said he has filed legislation in the state senate to amend current mail-in ballot policies.
The legislation, submitted July 9 by State Senator Kelly Dooner, would require mail-in ballots postmarked by the day of the election to be counted in special elections, according to a press release issued by Quintal.
'Like all by-request legislation, I filed this bill at the request of a constituent. It's important that residents and local officials in my district have the opportunity to bring their ideas forward through the legislative process,' said Dooner, in an email statement, on why she chose to file legislation from her former co-City Councilor.
Why this legislation?
The initial official results of the June 10 special state election race for State Representative showed Democrat Lisa Field winning by 17 votes. A recount held on June 30, 2025, in Easton and July 2, 2025, in Taunton, narrowed the gap to 15 votes, but Field still retained the majority and remained the victor.
Quintal said Taunton's Elections Office disqualified 20 mail-in ballots because the ballots were not received by the office before the deadline. 'In my race, 20 Tauntonians were denied their voice.'
Over in Easton, Denise Morgan, principal clerk for Easton's Town Clerk's Office, told The Gazette that five mail-in ballots were disqualified from the election for not being received in time.
Marc Pacheco, director of elections for Taunton's Elections Department, confirmed the disqualified 20 mail-in ballots. He said, when it comes to special elections, per state law, all voting ballots submitted by mail must be received by the city or town clerk prior to the closing of polls, which was 8 p.m., on the day of the election held on June 10.
Those 20 mail-in ballots were not received by the elections office in time to be counted. 'The law is clear and we followed the law.'
Furthermore, in a June 12 press release after the special election, Pacheco said, 'The only other ballots that could possibly be counted after election day for a special state election would be provisional ballots and ballots postmarked from overseas,' said Pacheco.
In a written statement Quintal said the legislation filed aims to amend Massachusetts General Law Chapter 54 section 25B to bring it in line with the counting of ballots in November state elections.
'It makes no sense that ballots for November state elections are counted up to four days afterwards while in a special election they are tossed aside. We should not be denying people's voices in a state special election by treating them differently from a normal state election,' he said.
State representative district covers parts of Easton, Taunton
The 3rd Bristol District consists of parts of Taunton and parts of Easton:
Easton: Precincts 4A, 5, and 6
Taunton: Ward 1 Precincts A, B, Ward 2, Ward 5, Ward 7 and Ward 8
A secure system
Pacheco said the 20 disqualified mail-in ballots, per state requirements, 'are still sealed in their outer secrecy envelope. No one but these voters themselves know who they voted for.'
When reached for comment, Holly Robichaud, who handles communication for Quintal, said there is no definitive way of knowing the voting results of the disqualified ballots. 'The 20 mail-in ballots remain sealed. However, 20 is more than the margin in this race. If they had been counted, they could have changed the results,' she said via email.
Pacheco also said there is no pattern or way of deducing how many certified mail-in ballots voted for either Quintal or Field due to how the voting system works.
'Vote by mail ballots and absentee ballots are separated from their outer secrecy envelopes and placed into the ballot optical scanner and vote tabulator in the same manner that election day ballots are cast. Therefore, there is no way to know who voted for which candidate,' he said.
For future elections
Robichaud said the legislation isn't an attempt to overturn the election results. 'We cannot go back retroactively,' she said, adding that the legislation is about ensuring that mail-in ballots for special elections are counted and have the same boundaries as with state elections.
That being said, Robichaud did acknowledge that 'Larry [Quintal] is seriously considering running again' in the 2026 election for State Rep., and 'We believe that he would win in a regular election where all the ballots are counted.'
Moving forward
Lisa Field declined to comment on Quintal's proposed legislation or press release. She was sworn in as 3rd Bristol District's new State Representative on Wednesday, July 16. "I am very excited to get to work on behalf of the constituents of the 3rd Bristol."
With additional reporting from Emma Rindlisbacher
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Larry Quintal files legislation regarding mail-in voting special elections
Solve the daily Crossword