WINCHESTER — It was nothing less than a resounding defeat.

Voters, here, emphatically rejected a proposed $3.93 million general override in a special election Tuesday by a margin of 4,543 to 3,518. It was the second defeat of a general override by Winchester voters in less than nine months, although the two override questions would have covered different fiscal years, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, respectively.

Turnout was strong across the town, as 58 percent of 13,869 registered voters cast ballots in the one-issue, special election. Only one voter turned out, but cast a blank ballot. Informed observed noted that in similar circumstances, usually there are more than just one blank ballot.

The nature of the outcome was not lost on one of the organizers of the pro-override campaign. "We're disappointed," said Michele Norman Tuesday night. "We put together a great effort, and we appreciate all the help we got. Of course, we're sorry about the way it turned out.

"I had hoped that by focusing on the facts, and making a strong effort to communicate those facts to as many people as possible would have resulted in a positive vote. Now it is time to take stock of what has happened over the past couple of months.

"These results don't reflect the effort and passion this group put into this campaign. At the end of the day, I'm proud of us for putting our names out there on the line with information and facts that could be substantiated. We ran an honest and above board effort," Norman said.

In a cable television interview, anti-override spokesman Brian O'Connor said that people he had talked to about the override had expressed support for those who stood up against the School Committee. He said that no one wants to see education decrease in Winchester, but that spending on that part of the budget has to be controlled.

The anti-override campaign, such as it was, disagreed sharply with the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, who unanimously defined the town's budget problem as a "structural deficit," such that fixed costs have been growing at a much faster annual rate than revenue. It is a problem, they said, that was made worse by declining state aid. A residential community, Winchester is 95 percent residential, without a significant commercial or industrial tax base. That means funding local programs is squarely on the shoulders of the residential property owners.

Proposition 2 1/2 limits the growth of the town's property tax to 2.5 percent plus new growth.

According to a number of vocal override opponents, "the town has a spending problem, not a revenue problem."

The vote

In March, a $3.75 million general override, drew a 50 percent turnout during the annual town election and lost by only about 150 votes. This time, the $3.93 million question lost in six out of eight precincts. In five of those the margin of defeat was wide. Only in Precinct 4, 641 opposed and 632 in favor, was a close loss.

The override carried in only two precincts, 3 and 7.

Town Clerk Carolyn Ward said there was a problem with the ballot scanner for Precinct 3. Precincts 3 and 4 vote at McCall Middle School. Ward said that when the polls closed, election officials could not get a readout from the machine. So the decision was made to count the ballots by hand.

Ward said, despite the problem, the town always has the back up of paper ballots.

There were some 637 absentee ballots cast in this special election. Voters who requested absentee ballots for the Presidential election were also able to request absentee ballots for the special election. Ward noted that in the town election this year (March 2004) there were 328 absentee ballots cast, in the town election 2002 there were 709 absentee ballots cast. In the recent Presidential election there were 1,183 absentee ballots cast.

"The opportunity for absentee ballots is always there for all the elections," Ward said. She noted that the heightened interest in voting in the Presidential election and opportunity to request absentee ballots for both elections at the same time may have had an impact on this special election.

Poll watching

E-mailer Joseph DeMarinis asks if poll checking is a "dirty trick." He sent in photographs (not published in the Daily Times Chronicle) and a note characterizing the practice of sitting near the election officers in order to hear and record the name and address of the voters as they come to get a ballot as an "unethical intrusion."

The idea of poll watching is to find out who has voted and check the names against public voter registration lists in an effort to get out the vote before the polls close.

"Here are a couple of photographs of the poll checkers stationed at the voter check-in tables during the override voting at precincts 7 and 8. They are stationed there on behalf of the Winchester Will organization... While this practice is legal, I feel it's an unethical intrusion into the voting process. No partisan advocates should be allowed inside the polling place," DeMarinis writes.

He also forwarded what he said was an e-mail from Winchester Will organizers to its volunteers directing them to check the voters as they get their ballots to match the names and at 4 p.m. the group would concentrate a get-out-the-vote effort for those in each precinct that the group has identified as a supporter of their cause.

Ward commented, "Poll watching is legal and it is allowed. There are guidelines. They may not be at the table, but the may be close enough to hear what is said. Election officials are supposed to ask the voter's name and address and to repeat it out loud. The point is that the process of voting is public. While how a person votes is private, the process of voting is public. A lot of voters don't realize that. The law is written to allow just this practice."

Ward said that part of the Town Clerk's post election work is to make public voting lists following each election. Diskettes will be available to anyone who wants to buy one for $10,

Ward also said that if someone from the anti-override group had asked to be a poll watch they would have been accommodated.

The cost

The Board of Selectmen took some heat for calling a special election but not piggybacking with the Nov. 2 Presidential election, mostly for the added expense of a special election.

In answer to that criticism, members of the board have said once the decision was made to hold the special election there was not enough time to promote, explain and discuss the issues that they felt made the override necessary. Additionally, with the high interest in the Bush-Kerry campaign, it was felt that the override question would get lost in the shuffle.

Ward said today that she expects Tuesday election to cost the town about $13,000. Previously, she estimated the cost at between $12,000 and $15,000. The biggest expense is for election officers, $700 per precinct, she said.

Also on the expense sheet is funding for police details, staff overtime, printing the warrant, printing the ballot, postage and optical scanning programming.

Winchester's next election is expected to be the annual March town election in 2005.