Elections were held in 12 communities Feb. 12. Voter turnout was light at best in most areas.

In Ellsworth, just 45 residents — fewer than 1 percent of the registered voters — cast ballots to elect three board members.

In Mariaville, only 14 residents voted. Sullivan officials processed just 16 ballots.

“If no one turned up, I’d have been surprised,” Interim Union 92 Superintendent Omar Norton said. “If a large crowd showed up, I’d be equally surprised.”

He said he has worked for other regional districts, and voter turnout is generally not high for board elections.

RSU 24 includes Ellsworth, Union 96 (Franklin, Gouldsboro, Sullivan, Sorrento, Steuben and Winter Harbor) and the Union 92 towns of Hancock, Lamoine, Eastbrook, Waltham and Mariaville. Voters in each community approved joining the consolidated school district Dec. 9.

The RSU will have a 14-member board. All communities except Ellsworth will be represented by a single board member. Member votes will be weighted based on population.

The majority of board candidates ran uncontested. There were no declared candidates for board seats representing Hancock, Lamoine and a one-year term in Ellsworth. All three of those seats were filled by write-in candidates Feb. 12.

Richard Malaby won the Hancock seat. Jonathan Morren will represent Lamoine and Alice Dow will take the third Ellsworth seat.

In Steuben, Town Clerk Julie Ginn is awaiting a legal opinion on the RSU vote because she filed a notice alerting voters to the election when she should have filed a warrant signed by municipal officials.

“There has been no formal challenge made to the vote whatsoever,” she said. “A couple of comments were made election day that it was an illegal election, so I decided I needed to check it out. It was a slip up on my part. I’ve apologized for it, and I’m trying to correct it.”

Attorneys for the Maine Municipal Association and from the law firm of Drummond Woodsum in Portland are investigating the issue.

Geoff Zentz was the only declared candidate for the Steuben seat on the RSU board. He received 72 votes. School Board member Larry Pinkham received 59 write-in votes. Richard Pinkham and Debbie Robinson had one write-in vote each.

The Department of Education has five business days from the election date to verify the election results. Board members will then receive a certified letter notifying them of their election.

Norton said the first meeting of the RSU board is tentatively scheduled for March 3 at 7 p.m. at Ellsworth High School.

The board’s first item of business will be to appoint a moderator and then to elect officers. The board will also need to discuss hiring a RSU superintendent.

In the meantime, officials in each school department are preparing budgets and making preparations for the upcoming school year. The budgets will be combined into a single RSU budget.

The RSU is to become operational July 1.

Many of the board members elected Feb. 12 have served on school committees or were involved with consolidation planning. Experienced members will help ease the transition into an RSU, Norton said.

“I’m very pleased with the group,” he said.

Reporter Jacqueline Weaver contributed to this story.