The 2014 fall town meeting held four electronic votes: two at the first session November 18 and two at the second and final session November 19. Problems previously cropped up at the 2014 annual town meeting in May and June. There were more discrepancies in records from the 2014 fall town meeting in November.

This time there were no attempts to use the voting system for “informal” counting. However, despite commitments to provide results the day following a session, no results were posted on Brookline’s municipal Web site until the afternoon of November 24, five days after the second and final session.

Comparisons of records: Electronic voting results were displayed at town meeting on a large projection screen. They were captured on video recordings of both the first session and second session by Brookline Interactive Group, along with declarations of results for official records by the moderator, Edward “Sandy” Gadsby. The video recordings are available to the public from the Web site of Brookline Interactive.

At the first session, Mr. Gadsby declared the vote on a referral motion proposed under Article 12: 65 yes and 138 no, agreeing with totals displayed to town meeting on the large projection screen. The totals from results posted on the municipal Web site were instead: 65 yes and 141 no.

At the first session, Mr. Gadsby declared the vote on a zoning change proposed under Article 12 (the main motion): 60 yes and 146 no, agreeing with totals displayed to town meeting on the large projection screen. The totals from results posted on the municipal Web site were instead: 60 yes and 147 no.

At the second session, Mr. Gadsby declared the vote on a resolution proposed under Article 15: 110 yes and 83 no, agreeing with totals displayed to town meeting on the large projection screen. The totals from results posted on the municipal Web site were instead: 111 yes and 83 no.

At the second session, Mr. Gadsby declared the vote on an alternative resolution proposed by the Advisory Committee under Article 19: 20 yes and 145 no. So far, records of this vote have not appeared on the municipal Web site at all.

Article and motion	As it was	Declared	As it was	Posted
	Yes	No	Yes	No
Article 12, referral	65	138	65	141
Article 12, main vote	60	146	60	147
Article 15, resolution	110	83	111	83
Article 19, alternative	20	145	unknown	unknown

Unreliable results: After practice with the current electronic voting system at four previous town meetings, at the 2014 fall town meeting Brookline again failed to achieve reliable results. Discrepancies are clear on each of the three electronic votes reported. Unexplained changes to records had apparently been made, after town meeting, in computer files purporting to represent town meeting results. Those might have been connected with unexplained delays of five and six days in posting records on the municipal Web site.

None of the discrepancies was large enough to affect an action at the recent town meeting. That may be luck. Close votes at past town meetings could have been clouded. At a town meeting in 1972, for example, the late Sumner Kaplan–a former chair of the Board of Selectmen, state representative and district judge–proposed to combine the police and fire departments into a public safety department. The controversial proposal failed on a tie vote. A single-vote discrepancy could have clouded that result.

If Brookline had a reliable electronic voting system, allowing town meeting members to change recorded positions after a vote has been declared would be a highly dubious practice. It opens an avenue through which town meeting results can become clouded after a town meeting is over, with potentials for protracted disputes or lawsuits over close votes. Brookline does not have a reliable electronic voting system. A week after the 2014 fall town meeting, one of the four electronic votes has not even been reported, and the results for the three reported votes disagree with the moderator’s declarations at town meeting.

Votes shown as “absent”: Of 744 individual votes tallied, 115 were “absent.” Some could be town meeting members who had checked in but did not cast votes. The average number of “absent” votes was about 7 per precinct. Absentees were most prevalent in Precinct 14, with 13 “absent” votes, and in Precinct 15, with 16 “absent” votes.

– Craig Bolon, Brookline, MA, November 27, 2014

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Town of Brookline, November 18, 2014, electronic vote results, dated November 24, 2014

Brookline Interactive Group, 2014 fall town meeting, second session, November 19, 2014

Brookline Interactive Group, 2014 fall town meeting, first session, November 18, 2014

Fall town meeting: tobacco controls, resolution derby, Brookline Beacon, November 20, 2014

Fall town meeting: bylaw changes, no new limits on marijuana dispensaries, Brookline Beacon, November 18, 2014

2014 annual town meeting: electronic voting issues, Brookline Beacon, June 17, 2014

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Brookline 2014 fall town meeting, electronic votes posted as of November 24, 2014

Vote	Day	Article	Question voted
1	11/18	12	Zoning for medical marijuana dispensaries, referral
2	11/18	12	Zoning for medical marijuana dispensaries, restrict eligible areas
3	11/19	15	Repeal of taxi medallions, adopt resolution instead

Y yes, N no, P present, A absent

Pct.	Given name	Family name	Street address	1	2	3
01	Cathleen	Cavell	27 Monmouth Ct	A	N	Y
01	Ernest	Cook	4 Euston St	A	A	A
01	Jonathan	Cutler	12 Churchill St	A	A	A
01	Elijah	Ercolino	2 Euston St	N	N	Y
01	James	Franco	126 Amory St	N	N	N
01	Richard	Garver	23 Monmouth Ct	N	N	Y
01	Neil	Gordon	87 Ivy St	N	N	Y
01	Helen	Herman	1126 Beacon St	Y	N	Y
01	Carol	Hillman	287 Kent St	N	N	Y
01	Sean	Lynn-Jones	53 Monmouth St	Y	N	N
01	Alexandra	Metral	42 Beech Rd	Y	Y	Y
01	Paul	Moghtader	16 Chilton St	A	A	A
01	Bettina	Neuefeind	20 Amory St	Y	Y	N
01	Robert	Schram	47 Monmouth St	N	N	N
01	Katharine	Silbaugh	68 Amory St	Y	Y	N
02	Livia	Kahl	200 Saint Paul St	A	Y	A
02	Judith	Kidd	76 Parkman St	N	N	Y
02	Lisa	Liss	74 Parkman St	N	N	Y
02	Rita	McNally	230 Saint Paul St	N	N	A
02	Adam	Mitchell	87 Browne St	N	N	Y
02	Barbara	O’Brien	81 Egmont St	P	A	A
02	Gwen	Ossenfort	87 Browne St	N	N	N
02	Linda	Pehlke	48 Browne St	N	N	Y
02	Susan	Roberts	69 Green St	Y	Y	N
02	Diana	Spiegel	39 Stetson St	N	N	N
02	Stanley	Spiegel	39 Stetson St	N	N	N
02	Eunice	White	135 Pleasant St	N	N	Y
02	Bruce	Wolff	50 Pleasant St	N	Y	N
02	Ana Vera	Wynne	60 Browne St	Y	Y	Y
02	Richard	Wynne	60 Browne St	Y	N	Y
03	Harry	Bohrs	97 Toxteth St	N	N	N
03	Patricia	Connors	80 Francis St	N	N	Y
03	Mary	Dewart	90 Toxteth St	Y	P	Y
03	Murray	Dewart	90 Toxteth St	Y	Y	Y
03	Dennis	Doughty	57 Perry St	N	N	Y
03	Kathe	Geist	551 Brookline Ave	N	Y	Y
03	Jane	Gilman	140A Sewall Ave	Y	Y	Y
03	Heather	Hamilton	75 Longwood Ave	A	A	Y
03	Gary	Jones	70 Francis St	N	N	A
03	Laurence	Koff	20 Harrison St	Y	N	N
03	Donald	Leka	140A Sewall Ave	N	N	Y
03	Kathleen	Scanlon	71 Francis St	N	Y	N
03	Frank	Steinfield	160 Aspiwall Ave	N	N	N
03	Rebecca	Stone	71 Toxteth St	N	N	N
03	Jean	Stringham	50 Longwood Ave	Y	Y	Y
04	Sarah	Axelrod	41 Bowker St	N	N	Y
04	Eric	Berke	77 Pond Ave	Y	N	Y
04	Edith	Brickman	33 Pond Ave	N	N	A
04	Alan	Christ	117 Kent St	N	N	N
04	Ingrid	Cooper	30 Brook St	N	N	P
04	Anne	Covert	33 Pond Ave	N	N	N
04	Frank	Farlow	8 Bowker St	N	N	Y
04	Martha	Farlow	8 Bowker St	N	N	Y
04	Nadine	Gerdts	56 Linden Pl	Y	Y	Y
04	John	Mulhane	45 Brook St	N	N	N
04	Mariah	Nobrega	33 Bowker St	Y	Y	Y
04	Joseph	Robinson	41 Brook St	N	N	Y
04	Marjorie	Siegel	59 Linden St	Y	Y	P
04	Virginia	Smith	12 Linden St	N	N	Y
04	Robert	Volk	45 Linden St	N	N	Y
05	Richard	Allen	158 Cypress St	N	Y	N
05	Robert	Daves	9 Upland Rd	N	N	Y
05	Dennis	DeWitt	94 Upland Rd	N	N	Y
05	Michael	Gunnuscio	302 Walnut St	N	N	Y
05	Angela	Hyatt	87 Walnut St	Y	Y	Y
05	David	Knight	5 Maple St	Y	Y	N
05	Hugh	Mattison	209 Pond Ave	A	N	Y
05	Puja	Mehta	50 Jamaica Rd	Y	N	P
05	Randolph	Meiklejohn	161 Cypress St	Y	Y	A
05	Phyllis	O’Leary	16 Jamaica Rd	A	A	A
05	Andrew	Olins	242 Walnut St	Y	Y	A
05	William	Reyelt	121 Chestnut St	N	N	Y
05	Betsy	Shure Gross	25 Edgehill Rd	Y	Y	A
05	Claire	Stampfer	50 Sargent Crossway	Y	Y	Y
05	Lenore	von Krusenstiern	302 Walnut St	A	A	Y
06	Catherine	Anderson	106 Davis Ave	N	N	N
06	John	Bassett	26 Searle Ave	N	N	N
06	Jocina	Becker	18 Elm St	N	N	Y
06	Christopher	Dempsey	43 Brington Rd	N	N	Y
06	Brian	Hochleutner	35 Elm St	Y	Y	N
06	Sytske	Humphrey	46 Gardner Rd	N	N	N
06	Virginia	LaPlante	58 Welland Rd	N	N	Y
06		Merelice	22 White Pl	Y	Y	Y
06	Ian	Polumbaum	17 Blake Rd	N	N	Y
06	Clinton	Richmond	3 Greenough Cir	N	N	Y
06	Ian	Roffman	20 Searle Ave	Y	Y	Y
06	Kim	Smith	22 Brington Rd	Y	N	Y
06	Ruthann	Sneider	30 Perry St	Y	Y	Y
06	Robert	Sperber	21 Lowell Rd	N	N	N
06	Thomas	Vitolo	153 University Rd	N	N	Y
07	Ellen	Ball	441 Washington St	A	A	A
07	Susan	Cohen	23 Littell Rd	Y	Y	Y
07	Susan	Ellis	431 Washington St	N	N	N
07	Ernest	Frey	423 Washington St	N	N	N
07	Phyllis	Giller	69 Park St	N	N	A
07	Elizabeth	Goldstein	1501 Beacon St	N	N	Y
07	Mark	Gray	31 Harris St	N	N	Y
07	Bernard	Greene	25 Alton Ct	N	N	N
07	Kelly	Hardebeck	18 Littell Rd	A	A	A
07	Jonathan	Lewis	104 Harvard St	N	N	A
07	Jonathan	Margolis	49 Harvard Ave	Y	N	Y
07	Christopher	Oates	42 Saint Paul St	N	N	Y
07	Sloan	Sable	50 Harris St	N	N	A
07	Rita	Shon-Baker	10 Alton Ct	Y	Y	Y
07	James	Slayton	4 Auburn St	N	N	N
08	Lauren	Bernard	20 John St	N	Y	A
08	Abigail	Cox	18 Osborne Rd	P	N	Y
08	Gina	Crandell	117 Stedman St	N	N	A
08	Franklin	Friedman	71 Crowninshield Rd	N	N	Y
08	David-Marc	Goldstein	22 Osborne Rd	N	N	Y
08	John	Harris	41 Osborne Rd	Y	Y	Y
08	Nancy	Heller	40 Abbottsford Rd	N	N	N
08	Anita	Johnson	41 Osborne Rd	N	N	Y
08	Edward	Loechler	106 Beals St	Y	N	Y
08	Jeanne	Mansfield	43 Beals St	N	N	Y
08	Robert	Miller	19 Copley St	N	N	Y
08	Barbara	Scotto	26 Crowninshield Rd	N	N	N
08	Lisamarie	Sears	137 Fuller St	N	N	N
08	Sara	Stock	19 Abbottsford Rd	A	A	A
08	Maura	Toomey	102 Crowninshield Rd	N	N	Y
09	Liza	Brooks	36 Russell St	N	N	A
09	Joseph	Geller	221 Winchester St	A	A	N
09	Paul	Harris	111-B Centre St	N	P	Y
09	Nathaniel	Hinchey	19 Winchester St	N	N	Y
09	Barr	Jozwicki	183 Winchester St	N	N	N
09	Joyce	Jozwicki	183 Winchester St	N	N	N
09	Pamela	Katz	29 Columbia St	N	N	Y
09	Julius	Levine	40 Williams St	A	A	A
09	Stanley	Rabinovitz	117 Thorndike St	Y	N	Y
09	Harriet	Rosenstein	53 Centre St	N	N	A
09	Martin	Rosenthal	62 Columbia St	N	N	Y
09	Charles	Swartz	69 Centre St	N	N	N
09	Dwaign	Tyndal	60 Columbia St	A	A	P
09	Judith	Vanderkay	16 Columbia St	N	N	Y
09	George	White	143 Winchester St	N	N	N
10	Carol	Caro	1264 Beacon St	N	N	Y
10	Francis	Caro	1264 Beacon St	N	N	Y
10	Sumner	Chertok	80 Park St	N	N	A
10	Jonathan	Davis	125 Park St	Y	N	Y
10	Linda	Davis	125 Park St	Y	Y	Y
10	Holly	Deak	124 Park St	N	Y	N
10	Stephan	Gaehde	7 Griggs Ter	A	Y	Y
10	Beth	Jones	24 Griggs Rd	A	A	A
10	David	Micley	675 Washington St	N	N	Y
10	Sharon	Sandalow	1272 Beacon St	N	N	N
10	Rachel	Sandalow-Ash	1272 Beacon St	A	A	A
10	Stanley	Shuman	80 Park St	N	N	N
10	Finn	Skagestad	24 Griggs Ter	A	A	Y
10	Alexandra	Spingarn	40 Griggs Ter	A	A	N
10	Naomi	Sweitzer	14 Griggs Ter	N	N	Y
11	Carrie	Benedon	32 Summit Ave	P	P	Y
11	Joseph	Ditkoff	145 Mason Ter	Y	N	Y
11	Shira	Fischer	50 Summit Ave	A	A	Y
11	Shanna	Giora-Gorfajn	66 Winchester St	Y	N	N
11	Jennifer	Goldsmith	148 Jordan Rd	Y	Y	N
11	Martha	Gray	113 Summit Ave	N	N	Y
11	Bobbie	Knable	243 Mason Ter	N	N	A
11	David	Lescohier	50 Winchester St	Y	N	N
11	Kenneth	Lewis	232 Summit Ave	Y	N	N
11	David	Lowe	177 Mason Ter	N	N	Y
11	Rebecca	Mautner	12 York Ter	Y	Y	A
11	Maryellen	Moran	100 Winchester St	N	Y	A
11	Carol	Oldham	1496 Beacon St	Y	N	Y
11	Brian	Sheehan	296 Mason Ter	Y	Y	Y
11	Karen	Wenc	84 Summit Ave	N	N	Y
12	Michael	Burstein	50 Garrison Rd	N	N	Y
12	Bruce	Cohen	289 Tappan St	N	N	Y
12	Lee	Cooke-Childs	136 Rawson Rd	N	N	Y
12	Chad	Ellis	26 Chesham Rd	Y	Y	Y
12	Harry	Friedman	27 Claflin Rd	Y	Y	Y
12	Jonathan	Grand	120 Beaconsfield Rd	N	N	N
12	Stefanie	Greenfield	154 University Rd	Y	N	N
12	Casey	Hatchett	84 University Rd	Y	Y	A
12	Amy	Hummel	226 Clark Rd	Y	Y	N
12	Jonathan	Karon	124 Winthrop Rd	A	A	A
12	David	Klafter	63 Winthrop Rd	N	N	Y
12	Mark	Lowenstein	158 Winthrop Rd	N	N	Y
12	Judy	Meyers	75 Clinton Rd	Y	Y	N
12	William	Slotnick	118 Gardner Rd	Y	P	A
12	Donald	Weitzman	123 Buckminster Rd	N	N	Y
13	Joanna	Baker	1824 Beacon St	Y	N	Y
13	Carla	Benka	26 Circuit Rd	N	N	N
13	Roger	Blood	69 Cleveland Rd	Y	Y	Y
13	Chris	Chanyasulkit	16 Corey Rd	A	A	P
13	John	Doggett	8 Penniman Rd	N	N	N
13	Jonathan	Fine	57 Willow Cres	N	N	Y
13	Andrew	Fischer	21 Bartlett Cres	N	N	Y
13	John	Freeman	530 Clinton Rd	N	N	Y
13	Francis	Hoy	295 Reservoir Rd	N	N	N
13	Ruth	Kaplan	24 Spooner Rd	A	A	A
13	Werner	Lohe	25 Salisbury Rd	N	N	Y
13	Paul	Saner	462 Chestnut Hill Ave	A	A	N
13	Lee	Selwyn	285 Reservoir Rd	N	Y	N
13	Barbara	Senecal	345 Clinton Rd	Y	Y	N
13	John	VanScoyoc	307 Reservoir Rd	N	N	N
14	Robert	Basile	333 Heath St	A	A	A
14	Clifford	Brown	9 Hyslop Rd	N	N	N
14	Linda	Carlisle	233 Fisher Ave	Y	Y	N
14	Gill	Fishman	79 Holland Rd	N	Y	A
14	Paula	Friedman	170 Hyslop Rd	N	Y	N
14	Deborah	Goldberg	37 Hyslop Rd	A	A	N
14	Georgia	Johnson	80 Seaver St	A	A	A
14	Fred	Levitan	1731 Beacon St	N	N	N
14	Roger	Lipson	622 Chestnut Hill Ave	A	N	N
14	Pamela	Lodish	195 Fisher Ave	N	N	N
14	Shaari	Mittel	309 Buckminster Rd	N	N	N
14	Kathleen	O’Connell	59 Ackers Ave	N	N	Y
14	Benjamin	Rich	130 Buckminster Rd	A	A	A
14	Lynda	Roseman	49 Ackers Ave	N	N	N
14	Sharon	Schoffmann	6 Eliot St	N	N	Y
15	Edwin	Alexanderian	945 Hammond St	A	A	A
15	Mariela	Ames	25 Whitney St	N	Y	A
15	Eileen	Berger	112 Wolcott Rd	Y	Y	Y
15	Michael	Berger	112 Wolcott Rd	N	Y	Y
15	Abby	Coffin	255 Woodland Rd	A	A	N
15	Jane	Flanagan	854 Hammond St	N	N	N
15	John	Hall	85 Sears Rd	A	A	A
15	Benedicte	Hallowell	96 Sears Rd	A	A	A
15	Janice	Kahn	63 Craftsland Rd	Y	Y	N
15	Ira	Krepchin	63 Craftsland Rd	N	N	N
15	Richard	Nangle	854 Hammond St	N	Y	A
15	David	Pearlman	25 Goddard Cir	N	Y	Y
15	James	Rourke	679 Hammond St	A	A	A
15	Ab	Sadeghi-Nejad	125 Arlington Rd	N	N	N
15	Cornelia	van der Ziel	100 Wolcott Rd	N	N	N
16	Saralynn	Allaire	157 Bellingham Rd	N	Y	Y
16	Robert	Allen	296 Russett Rd	N	N	N
16	Beverly	Basile	902 W Roxbury Pkwy	Y	P	A
16	John	Basile	1040 W Roxdbury Pkwy	A	A	A
16	Stephen	Chiumenti	262 Russett Rd	Y	P	N
16	Regina	Frawley	366 Russett Rd	N	Y	Y
16	Thomas	Gallitano	146 Bonad Rd	Y	Y	N
16	Scott	Gladstone	383 Russett Rd	N	N	N
16	Alisa	Jonas	333 Russett Rd	P	Y	Y
16	Judith	Leichtner	121 Beverly Rd	Y	P	N
16	William	Pu	249 Beverly Rd	N	Y	N
16	Joshua	Safer	223 Bonad Rd	Y	Y	N
16	Irene	Scharf	250 Russett Rd	N	N	A
16	Arthur	Sneider	223 Beverly Rd	N	N	N
16	Joyce	Stavis-Zak	44 Intervale Rd	Y	N	Y
AL	Nancy	Daly	161 Rawson Rd	Y	N	N
AL	Betsy	DeWitt	94 Upland Rd	N	N	N
AL	Benjamin	Franco	275 Cypress St	N	N	Y
AL	Edward	Gadsby	60 Glen Rd	P	P	P
AL	Kenneth	Goldstein	111 Holland Rd	N	N	N
AL	Hon. Frank	Smizik	42 Russell St	N	N	A
AL	Patrick	Ward	12 Edwin St	P	P	P
AL	Neil	Wishinsky	20 Henry St	N	N	N
			Yes	65	60	111
			No	141	147	83
			Present	6	9	7
			Absent	36	32	47