It was an Election Day filled with firsts.
A slate of three challengers, Scott Sanzone, Frank Robert and Leo Keenan, requested and was granted permission from the town to install appointed observers to watch the vote count Tuesday for the Sykesville Town Council race ? a first since Sykesville was incorporated in 1904, said Town Manager Matthew Candland.
“It?s all about transparency,” Robert said.
The challengers, who ran on a platform of open government and support for local businesses, were also the first candidates to accept donations via credit card on their Web sites.
The three men spent $2,000 on their joint campaign, said Sanzone, who pointed out that challengers have one month ? from filing to election ? to garner name recognition.
“Sykesville has lost its innocence,” Candland said with a hint of sarcasm, noting that money had never been a major factor in past races.
The South Carroll town of nearly 5,000 residents doesn?t have any campaign-finance laws.
With the largest collection of signs and fliers, the challengers? slate used their funds to mount the most aggressive campaign Candland had seen in his 12 years as town manager.
The last time a challenger won in Sykesville was 1999.
Incumbents Russell Vreeland, Mark Rychwalski and Jim Kelley, as well as another challenger, Jonathan Caplan, also vied for the three open seats, which are nonpartisan and elected at large.
Soaking in the rays and chatting with voters, candidates sat at tables with campaign literature in the parking lot next to Sykesville Town Hall, a historic Victorian house on Main Street that still boasts a screen door. The relatively high visibility of candidates, sunny skies and 80-degree temperatures lured double the number of voters than in the last election.
Two years ago ? Sykesville?s elections are staggered and held every two years ? roughly 10 percent, or about 200 of the town?s approximately 2,000 registered voters, came out.
On Tuesday, that many residents had cast their ballots by 2 p.m.
As of 6 p.m., 380 residents had voted.
