Dianne Wilkerson demands recount
By Edward Mason  Boston Herald
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 -

Nearly a week after narrowly losing the Democratic primary, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson is calling for a recount of votes cast in the Roxbury part of her Senate district.

Wilkerson, who lost by 228 votes to Sonia Chang-Diaz Sept. 16, yesterday asked Boston election officials for a hand recount of ballots cast in five Roxbury wards. Her campaign said it received complaints of “irregularities” that may have prevented votes from being counted.

“The purpose for requesting a recount is so voters will be assured the process worked,” said Jeff Ross, a Wilkerson campaign spokesman.

Chang-Diaz blasted the Wilkerson camp for ing only a portion of the 10-ward district for a recount. “If there’s a recount, all of the votes should be counted,” Chang-Diaz said.

Ross said voters in Roxbury wards 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 complained of optical scanners not registering votes and of being denied provisional ballots that would allow them to vote if their name did not appear on the official voter list. The Wilkerson camp charges voters were confused by last-minute changes in poll locations, something the Menino administration denies.

Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said the city did not receive complaints from voters in the Roxbury wards, but did hear from Wilkerson officials about optical scanners not working. Those scanners were fixed, and the ballots were scanned or hand-counted.

Joyce said the city did not field complaints from voters being denied provisional ballots.

Roxbury is Wilkerson’s base. But Ross said choosing Roxbury “has nothing to do with a sweet spot” that would erase the 228-vote deficit. It was instead a response to where voters complained, he said.

Wilkerson and Chang-Diaz needed to turn in signatures from 50 registered Democrats in each ward they wanted recounted by 5 p.m. Boston election officials will rule tomorrow on which wards will be recounted.

Wilkerson officials grabbed their petition yesterday morning, forcing Chang-Diaz to counter. She filed for a recount limited to her Jamaica Plan base, saying that’s all she had time to canvass for signatures.