Attorney General Janet T. Mills Files Criminal Complaint against Bowdoinham Town Clerk Alleging Election Law Violation

March 31, 2010

Contact: Kate Simmons (207) 626-8577

Bath?Attorney General Janet Mills announced today that her office filed a criminal complaint in the West Bath District Court against Bowdoinham Town Clerk, Pamela Ross, age 51, alleging that Ms. Ross knowingly violated the law regarding the counting of absentee ballots. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Ms. Ross unfolded the ballots at the time she removed them from the absentee ballot envelopes. Unfolding the ballots allows an election official to determine how the person voted, violating the sanctity of the secret ballot. The charge is a Class E crime punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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