Attleboro holds lottery for special election ballot order | Local News

And it was all over in a couple of minutes.

The four-member election commission was there along with the three-person staff of the election office.

There was one reporter and two candidates, former city councilor John Davis and Acting Mayor Jay DiLisio.

And the winner was Davis, 58.

He got the number one position on the ballot.

Cathleen DeSimone, 56, was second.

DiLisio, 46, was third and Timothy Barone, 47, was fourth.

The special election, triggered by former mayor Paul Heroux winning the race for sheriff of Bristol County, is slated for Feb. 28, and it’s the only contest on the ballot.

The names were drawn from a small metal box by Election Commissioner Henry Reiley.

He passed them to George Spatcher, chair of the commission, who opened them.

He then passed them to Commissioner Mike Murphy who passed them to Commissioner Jacqueline DaSilva, the newest member of the commission, who read the names aloud.

Davis said he doesn’t think being in the top spot on the ballot “makes any difference.”

“Nobody goes to the polls without knowing who they are going to vote for,” he said.

DiLisio, who came down from the corner office to witness the drawing, also discounted the importance of ballot position.

“It’s all about getting out in front of the voters and talking to the residents,” he said.

Davis drew a laugh from the sparse audience when he predicted where he would finish.

“I expect to be in the top four,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leslie Veiga, the election administrator, said applications for mail-in ballots were not pouring in.

There were 254 as of Friday. That’s about .8% of the city’s 32,697 registered voters.

How many will actually show up for the special election is anyone’s guess because there has never been such a race for mayor before.

But judging by typical city elections, when only about 30% come out to vote and there are many other offices on the ballot, the turnout is likely to be small.

In the last city election, when Heroux was elected to his third term over challenger Todd McGhee, just 22% of the electorate showed up.

It could be a slow day. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain or snow.