The Winchester Board of Selectmen sought answers June 2 after residents and board members raised concerns about how the town handled voting during the May 27 budget referendum. The board voted 6-0 earlier in the meeting to add a referendum discussion to the agenda and heard selectmen and residents urge clearer public notice and adherence to the town charter on counting methods.

Selectman Candy Perez said questions remain about two decisions made around the vote: an apparently unscheduled Saturday absentee voting opportunity and an apparent decision to hand-count paper ballots. "The charter is very clear in terms of our budget referendum vote is supposed to be by machine vote," Perez said, adding that the board had not been informed before those choices were implemented.

The discussion matters because, Perez said, publicly noticed procedures help maintain voter confidence. She and others told the board that Saturday voting had been posted on a local political committee's Facebook page late Friday but did not appear in the town's legal notice or on the town website and social channels. "Public notice includes the town website. Public notice includes the town social media page. Public notice means putting it on the town clerk's board or the little case outside," Perez said.

Town Manager Paul Harrington said he would follow up and noted the town had taken steps this year to expand outreach around the budget vote, including social media and radio publicity. On absentee ballots, Perez and other speakers referenced a recent state constitutional amendment that gave the legislature authority to change absentee voting rules; board members said the legislature has not yet acted and that current absentee-ballot reasons remain in effect.

Board members discussed next steps. Perez suggested a bipartisan group meet with the registrar to review the charter requirement for machine voting and to clarify public-notice procedures before the November elections. No formal complaint to the state election authority was filed at the meeting; Perez said she had chosen to raise the concerns with the board rather than immediately file a complaint.

The board recorded the discussion and did not take an immediate formal vote on changing procedures. The meeting record shows the board added the referendum discussion to the agenda earlier in the session by motion, which carried 6-0.

The discussion closed with members urging staff to document decisions about hours and counting methods and to improve the town's public-notice signals so that changes to voting opportunities appear on official channels as well as on community social pages.

Residents who spoke during the public-comment period also urged improved outreach and clearer, more visible notice about voting opportunities to avoid the perception that some groups received earlier or better notice than others.