9 R.I. primary candidates seek recounts

06:49 PM EDT on Thursday, September 16, 2004

By JACK PERRY  Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE The apparent runner-up in the Johnston mayoral primary and two candidates from Cranston, which had problems with some ballots, are among nine candidates asking for recounts following Tuesday's primary, according to the state Board of Elections.

In Johnston, incumbent Mayor William R. Macera apparently won the Democratic nomination, but challenger Joseph A. Wells, a town councilman, wants the ballots counted again.

Wells apparently lost the race by 271 votes, according to results posted on the state Board of Elections' Web site. Wells had 2,598 votes to Macera's 2,869. The results include mail-in ballots.

Some races in Cranston were closer. The issue there was compounded by questions over the filing of provisional ballots, which were given for the first time this year to people who came to the polls but whose eligibility to vote was in question.

Officials have completed their review of the 564 provisional ballots in Cranston that were set aside in a sealed bag, and they have ruled that only 38 of those voters were qualified to vote in the primary.

Officials fed those ballots through vote-counting machines last night. The additional votes contributed to small changes in the final tallies for a City Council race and a legislative race, but did not change the ultimate winner in either race.

Still, the apparent losers in those two races have asked for recounts.

Among those requesting recounts are Thomas Izzo, who apparently lost to incumbent state Sen. Beatrice Lanzi in the Democratic primary for Cranston's Senate District 26.

Lanzi apparently beat Izzo by 30 votes after the provisionals were counted. Lanzi received 715 votes to Izzo's 685. The total includes the one additional vote for Izzo after the provisional votes were counted.

Also requesting a recount in Cranston is Randall A. Jackvony, the apparent runner-up in the Republican City Council primary in Ward 4. Jackvony apparently lost by 53 votes to Donna Tocco-Greenaway, according to the board's Web site.

Jackvony received 1,146 votes to Tocco-Greenaway's 1,199, including the provisional votes. Jackvony received two more votes and Tocco-Greenaway received three more after the provisionals were added.

The provisional ballots created questions in Cranston, in part because as many as 100 of the ballots were incorrectly fed into the ballot machine, thus counting them as valid votes.

Poll workers were supposed to set the ballots aside in a sealed bag to be scrutinized later by election officias, as required by law.

Cranston had a high number of the provisional ballots because of people who wanted to vote in the Republican mayoral primary between incumbent Stephen P. Laffey and challenger Garry Reilly.

After the provisional ballots were fed through the vote-counting machine, Laffey received an additional 22 votes, while Reilly had seven more votes. The provisionals added 15 more votes to Laffey's more than 5,000-vote victory.

As of 3 p.m. today, according to the state Board of Elections, the following candidates have also requested recounts:

David Santilli in Johnston's Democratic primary for Town Council in District 3.

William J. Hall in Coventry's Democratic primary for Town Council in District 4.

Eileen M. Cook in North Providence's Democratic primary for Town Council in District 3.

The following have requested recounts and hearings:

Christopher Young in the Providence-East Providence Democratic primary for representative in District 2 and in Providence's Democratic primary for Senate in District 3.

David R. Carlin III in Newport's Democratic primary for representative in District 75.

And Maryann A. Gobern Matthews in a nonpartisan race for Ward 3 City Council in East Providence.