Sangerville candidate files lawsuit against winner, demanding she give up seat

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
    SANGERVILLE — A candidate for the Sangerville Board of Selectmen who lost to the incumbent by one vote at the annual town meeting has filed a civil lawsuit against her, requesting that she either “surrender her office to the plaintiff … or to the town of Sangerville.”

    Irving McNaughton filed the complaint against Selectman Melissa Randall, and Randall’s attorney – Thad Zmistowski of Bangor – will file a response by May 15.
    The Sangerville Board of Selectmen has voted to pick up the cost of Randall’s legal fees, although Town Manager David Pearson said it wasn’t an easy decision for the board. “I think the general consensus was that no one should be afraid to run for public office for fear of being sued,” Pearson said.
    Zmistowski told the Observer that McNaughton is relying on a “very old, little-used statute (MRS 2533) to proceed on. In fact, there are only four cases listed in the Maine Statutes: 1887, 1909, 1913 and 1967.”
    MRS 2533 states, in part, that within 30 days after Election Day “a person who claims to have been elected to any municipal office may proceed against another who claims title to the office … The person must bring a complaint in the Superior Court alleging the facts upon which the person relies in maintaining the action.”
    Zmistowski said that he had not completed his investigation as of Friday “but it’s my belief that the election was legal.”
    One of the major issues in McNaughton’s complaint is the requirement that candidates receive a clear majority of the votes cast.
    At the March 29 annual town meeting, there were 70 votes cast but three names were written on the wrong type of paper. So those were voided and not included in the final count which showed Randall with 34 votes and McNaughton with 33.
    A few days after the town meeting, some residents asked the selectmen to conduct a recount of the votes, but Richard P. Flewelling, the assistant director of the Maine Municipal Association’s legal service department, wrote that “there is no legal recount procedure available in this case, and (2) the selectmen have no legal authority to reverse the results or order a new election. The only available legal remedy here is for the challenger to bring suit in Superior Court.”
    Randall said she was surprised by the legal action. “Where I sat at the town meeting, I saw no voting irregularities and the election was conducted legally,” Randall said. “Mr. McNaughton was in Florida at the time (of the town meeting). So to come back to Maine and file a lawsuit based on something he hasn’t personally witnessed seems a little irresponsible.”
    McNaughton said Sunday that he does not have an “attorney of record” but has been getting some legal advice. “I’ve been in court lots of times as a witness, so I’m familiar with the process,” McNaughton said. “I think I’ve got a good case. The law is clear that all ballots have to be the same color and they do have to count all the ballots cast.”
    McNaughton said that state law governing municipal elections requires that the winner gets a majority — not a plurality — of the vote. “So she only got 34 votes,” he said. “That’s the major issue.”
    The Sangerville Board of Selectmen had a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 13.