Ward 3 City Councilor Steven Curcuru has called for a recount of the ward's Nov. 8 election results.
Curcuru, who lost by 32 votes to city government newcomer Steven LeBlanc, filed a petition for a recount Friday morning because the ward' second precinct voting machine at irst Baptist Church on Gloucester Avenue malfunctioned during the course of the election.
The city clerk's office has not yet set a date for the recount, but Curcuru expects it in the next few weeks.
"Thirty-two votes is a small number in the ward," said Curcuru, "but with the mechanical issues, some supporters said I should call for one (a recount)." The final vote tally was 558-526 in LeBlanc's favor.
Curcuru filed on the last possible day he could, City Clerk Linda Lowe said. Candidates, she said, have 10 days after the election to turn in a formal recount petition.
This recount, said Lowe, is the first in four years.
Ward 2 Councilor Ann Mulcahey called for the last one in 2007 while running against former Councilor John "Gus Foote." She lost the race 600-548. Ironically. Mulcahey also lost her re-election bid this year, but by a far more decisive margin to another first-time candidate, Melissa Cox.
LeBlanc's victory primarily came from the second precinct, which votes at First Baptist while Precinct 1 votes at the city's Veterans Center on Emerson Avenue. In general, Ward 3 is centered on Washington Street, extending down to the Annisquam River and across to Maplewood Avenue.
LeBlanc took the first precinct by just two votes, drawing 230 to Curcuru's 228. He won the second precinct 328 to 298.
LeBlanc told the Times on Friday he wishes Curcuru luck with the recount, but doesn't expect results to shift.
"That's his right," LeBlanc said. "I wish him luck, but I'm totally confident in the ward and totally confident in the clerk's office that the count shouldn't change."
One damp ballot caused the mechanical issues that sparked Curcuru's recount.
That ballot, said Lowe, shorted out the counter of the First Baptist Church vote-counting machine. A voter, she said, fed the wet ballot — apparently after spilling a drink on it — into the machine. The ballot ultimately shut the machine down, stopping the count.
Lowe said her office brought in a backup machine and set its count to where the first one stopped. Voting clerks, she said, operated on standard procedure. "We took the necessary steps," said Lowe.
Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.
