BERNE — The town’s highway superintendent — a Republican in a town governed by a council of all Democrats — left on a planned trip to Maine at 2 p.m. last Friday afternoon. That evening, he heard from two of his six full-time highway workers: They had been fired by the town supervisor.

Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in Berne nearly 3 to 1, will need to surmount 17 votes held by the Republican Randy Bashwinger as absentee ballots are counted for the election of a new highway superintendent.