eugene driscoll photo
Election Night tallies from Ansonia’s seven wards are displayed publicly in City Hall Tuesday, where a recount was conducted in the 17th state Senate District race.
ANSONIA — Both candidates for the state Senate 17th District seat picked up five votes in a recount of ballots from last week’s election.
As of Tuesday, incumbent Republican George Logan of Ansonia holds a 63-vote lead over Democrat Jorge Cabrera of Hamden in the race to represent Ansonia, Derby, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Hamden, Naugatuck, and Woodbridge in the state legislature’s upper chamber.
Ansonia’s was the second recount completed in the district, after a re-canvass in Derby Monday resulted in Cabrera closing Logan’s lead by two votes.
Eugene Driscoll photo
Counting the votes in Ansonia City Hall.
Over the course of seven and a half hours, election officials inspected every ballot cast citywide and ran them through tabulating machines, and hand-counted a handful rejected by the counters.
Naugatuck’s recount was due to begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The rest of the towns in the district have scheduled their recounts for Wednesday, the deadline to report the results to Secretary of the State’s office.
Ansonia’s totals were the most under scrutiny, after a 252-vote transcription error discovered by Logan’s lawyers flipped the result of the race.
The error, according to the local Registrars, was a combination of a faulty machine coupled with human error getting the numbers to the state.
Cabrera and other Democratic lawmakers held a rally in front of City Hall Monday afternoon to focus attention on the city.
The detailed results:
- Cabrera lost one vote in the First Ward but picked up one in the Third, two in the Seventh, and three absentee ballots.
- Logan lost a vote apiece in the Third and Fifth wards, but picked up three in the Seventh and four absentee ballots.
The final tally gave Logan 3,337 votes in Ansonia, and Cabrera 2,748.
Officials said the changes were not unusual in a race in which more than 6,000 votes were cast.
After Tuesday’s recount, lawyers representing each campaign who were in attendance declined to raise any further concerns regarding the city’s tallies. They’re not saying Ansonia’s recount was the result of malfeasance.
Ansonia Town/City Clerk Janet Waugh sent a letter to the State Elections Enforcement Commission last week asking the state to conduct an investigation into Election Day in Ansonia.
Joshua Foley, a staff lawyer with the state Elections Enforcement Commission, said his agency received the town clerk’s letter Tuesday.
The letter has been added to the agenda of the commission’s Wednesday meeting, scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at 20 Trinity St. in Hartford.
If the commissioners determine the matter falls within their jurisdiction, they could vote to look into it, Foley said.
Emails to the Ansonia town clerk, mayor, and corporation counsel were not returned Tuesday.
Ansonia’s registrars of voters — Democrat Thomas Maffeo and Republican Nancy Valentine — declined to comment on the city’s complaint, but expressed satisfaction in Tuesday’s recount.
“Today’s operation was, I think, a very successful day,” Valentine said.
Here’s 30 seconds from Tuesday’s recount. It was shot about 1:15 p.m., as workers double-checked absentee ballots.
