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FRAMINGHAM – Framingham voters in Precincts 4 and 7, will elected a City Councilor for a 2 year term in District 3 today.
Both candidates were bundled up and holding signs at Brophy Elementary School this morning, January 11.
City Councilor Adam Steiner is seeking his third 2-year term on the City Council. He is being challenged by SIFOC Vice Chair Mary Kate Feeney.
Polls are open at Brophy Elementary School until 8 p.m.
City Clerk Lisa Ferguson said there are 5,515 registered voters in District 3. There are 2,887 registered voters in Precinct 4 and 2,628 registered voters in Precinct 7.
Temperatures today were below 20 degrees, with windchill as low as minus 15 degrees.
Ferguson told SOURCE “it’s been a steady turnout so far,” just after 10 a.m.
The City Clerk said about 500 ballots were requested by mail/absentee, but not all had been returned.
If you have a ballot still to be returned – do NOT return it to Brophy Elementary.
Instead, drop it off at the ballot box at the Memorial Building or at the Christa McAuliffe Library branch by 8 p.m.
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Ferguson said just before 2 p.m., Precinct 4 at 475 votes and Precinct 7 had 327 votes.
That means just over 800 people had voted by about 2 p.m. or roughly 14.5% of the District.
Why is there a special election?
On November 2, City Council Vice Chair Adam Steiner received 997 votes, while SIFOC Vice Chair Mary Kate Feeney received 995 votes.
Feeney requested a recount.
After a recount, the election was certified as a tie at 997-997 votes each. The City declared a “failure to elect” and a special election date was set by the City Council for the last week in December.
Steiner sued the City of Framingham, the Framingham City Clerk, and the board of Registrars and sought an injunction to stop the special election date set by the City Council.
A judge ruled that the two ballots awarded to Feeney during the recount were blanks but that there were two other questionable votes and set aside the election and ordered a new one on Tuesday, January 11.
Who are the candidates?
Mary Kate Feeney, grew up in Framingham and attended St. Bridget School. She is a small business owner in Framingham. She ran the campaign for Framingham to become a City. She is the current vice chair of the City’s Strategic Initiatives and Financial Oversight Committee. Feeney worked for former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, as Director of Online Media. She also served as Communications Manager for the Massachusetts Officer of Travel & Tourism. She is a Board Member for the Framingham Business Association & Framingham FORCE.
Adam Steiner is employed as the Director of Technology for the Maynard Public Schools. He has been the City Councilor in District 3 since Framingham became a City on January 1, 2018. He told a local cable access talk show host his first foray into politics was when he was treasurer at Framingham North High School. Steiner was chair of the Council’s finance subcommittee. He served on the City’s Marijuana Task Force. Steiner was an intern for Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, during his college days, and after graduation he worked for Rep. Martin T. (Marty) Meehan.
SOURCE did an intensive Q&A with both candidates before the November election.
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Town of Ashland