Cruise Ship Question Withstands Recount
BAR HARBOR—A Saturday recount of Bar Harbor’s cruise ship ordinance (Article 4) on the November 5 ballot upheld the original vote. This means that the cruise ship disembarkation ordinance limiting daily disembarkations to 1,000 a day in the town remains in place.
The recounted vote was upheld 1,779 (no) to 1,714 (yes). There were 160 blank votes. The yes votes gained a vote. The no votes gained three.
The ballot measure (Article 4) had originally failed by 63 votes or less than 2 percent. Of the 3,489 votes cast, 1,713 voted in favor of the repeal and 1,776 voted in favor of keeping the ordinance as is. The recount had been requested by Bar Harbor resident Kevin DesVeaux.
The 1,000 limit was approved by voters in 2022 as part of a citizens’ petition and referendum. That had passed 1,780 to 1,273, a difference of 507 votes or 16%. The article had asked for a repeal of the 1,000-passenger daily disembarkation cap so that the Bar Harbor Town Council could put a different limitation plan in place using different mechanisms.
On Saturday morning, one person from each “team” witnessed the unsealing of the ballot boxes that were sealed on election day and/or after early voter processing on November 2.
Vote counters went to the tables behind guardrails set up in the town’s third floor auditorium. Chairs were provided for the counter for both sides, which Graves described as the yes campaign and no campaign for simplicity. DesVeaux represented the request along with attorney John Pottle. The representative for voting against the article was Peter Scott. The recount took over three hours and began at 9 a.m.
Graves also read state law about the recount procedure for those assembled.
The ballots had been stored in the municipal vault in the same building. Campaign representatives, attorneys, and counters were allowed within the guardrail. There were seven tally teams. Each had two counters and an assistant. The assistants each had stacks of ballots (between 100-200) before them. They performed a silent tally. No votes were called out. The teams could, however, talk among themselves. The assistant, according to the recount plan, put each ballot in between the two counters, representing each side. The counters collected the ballots for their side. Another stack existed for blank ballots.
Each counter would then hand-count all piles and each “complete a copy of the tabulation sheet,” accord to the recount plan.
Invalid votes were those ballots with no oval fills in, ovals filled with only a “small dot or light pen mark,” an indefinite mark, a mark equidistant between choices, marks that seem “stray.”
“A written request has been received,” Graves said, “for the municipal clerk to make the incoming voter list and absentee ballot list available.”
The incoming voter list and absentee ballot list was made available for the recount. It was then resealed and will not be made available until after the Congressional recount is concluded. That Congressional recount is a separate recount, unrelated to Bar Harbor’s Article 4 and cruise ships.
Last week, the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (APPLL) filed a campaign finances violation inquiry concerning activity by those against the measure, claiming that it was a coordinated effort that spent more than $5,000, which triggers campaign finance requirements to register as a ballot question committee (BQC).
That filing was before the state ethics commission, which is now investigating the allegation. APPLL is also involved in the federal appeal of a decision upholding the new rules.
Graves verified the 100 signatures needed for the recount on November 14. DesVeaux collected the 100-plus signatures on Wednesday, November 13, turning the petition in to Graves before 4 p.m.
The recount took place in the Bar Harbor Municipal Building, beginning at 9 a.m.
DesVeaux owns the West Street Cafe and has said that his restaurant’s revenue has decreased by hundreds of thousands of dollars this season. He links that to the decreased amount of cruise ships that visited Bar Harbor this year.
Since the 1,000-limits were approved by voters in 2022, Bar Harbor has had multiple lawsuits about the enforcement of the limits and their legality. A group of local businesses has appealed a federal court decision upholding those rules.
It is not the first time in recent history that the town has had a recount about a local issue. Back in 2020, the town had a recount of a zoning change that allowed multifamily development without planning board review. It had passed 989 to 972. The recount upheld that result but the numbers changed to 992 in favor, 973 against.
Another article that year about shared accommodations had passed by just four votes. According to a Mount Desert Islander brief at the time, “an error was discovered and the report was updated to a 14-vote margin, 941-927. The recount results were 942-930.” Arthur Grief and Donna Karlson had requested the recounts, which took 3.5 hours, involved 21 election clerks, and cost $2,100.
To listen to Graves’ opening remarks:
To listen to Graves giving the results at 12:01 p.m.
Photos: Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story
This story was updated at 12:21 p.m., November 23, to add the audio for the results and a few more photos.
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It seems to me that some businesses crying poor mouth over reasonable cruise ship limits are the same businesses which recently undertook costly expansions speculating on cruise ship patronage. Now they expect all of us to pay for their ill considered business models - in which greed seems to have outweighed good sense. After all, for more than a decade Bar Harbor residents have opposed an outsized cruise ship tourism dominating life in Bar Harbor. That we might be heard ought to have been part of the calculation. Or was it just assumed that town councilors would silence our voices forever?
Interesting recount of Bar Harbor’s cruise ship ordinance! It’s clear how much this decision impacts the local community, especially the businesses affected by the 1,000-passenger limit. The recount’s close result highlights the ongoing debate and differing perspectives on how to balance tourism with sustainability. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds and whether future measures will be introduced to address the concerns of local businesses. Thanks for sharing this detailed update.