Kushakji Will Not Be on Ballot for School Committee

School Committee member Michael Kushakji did return , according to Town Clerk Barbara Stats.

Kushakji turned in what appeared to be plenty of signatures, but some of them were not readable, Stats said. They have to legible and easy to identify, she explained. The signatures that were not readable were rejected.

Given that Kushakji did not get 50 certifiable signatures, his name will not be on the ballot at the April 30 election. However, that does not mean that he cannot be elected to the School Committee.

He can still run as a write-in candidate, Stats said. That also opens the door for anyone else to run as a write-in candidate, she said. 

The proper way to run as a write-in would be to go in to the Town Clerk's office at Town Hall and declare yourself as an official write-in candidate, Stats said. The candidate would benefit from the publicity of being an official write-in.

"More than anything it would show that they are serious about running for the position," Stats said.

There is an option for a sticker campaign, which would allow voters to place a sticker on the ballot to vote for a write-in candidate. Otherwise, voters can write the candidates name on the ballot, and essentially, a write-in may only need one vote to win. Unless there are several write-in candidates and then the one with the most votes would win.