Although a state mandated ballot recount slightly changed the numbers Monday, the outcome remained the same in a tight three-man race for the Board of Selectmen.
Republican David Haversat, vying for the town’s top job finished on Election Day with 1,862 votes, lost to incumbent Democratic First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers by 33 votes.
Although Republican candidate David Haversat lost his shot at unseating Democratic First Selectwoman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers by 33 votes, he still had a shot at a seat on the Board of Selectmen, as his 1,862 votes were just nine behind Democratic Selectman David McKane’s 1,871 votes.
Republican David Yish finished with 1,878 votes Nov. 3.
The four-hour recount started at Town Hall at 10:30 a.m. Monday with Republican and Democratic election workers hand counting 3,871 machine vote and absentee ballots cast on Election Day.
Those ballots were then re-scanned through the accu-vote tabulation machine for verification.
The recount showed candidates finished with slightly higher numbers, but not enough to make a difference in the standings.
Yish finished the recount as the highest vote getter with 1,884 to McKane’s 1,881, while Haversat finished with 1,868 votes.
Election moderator Kate Cosgrove said the higher numbers during the recount were due to ballots being misread by the tabulator on Election Day.
“Some voters did not color in the oval entirely and the machine rejected it,” she said. “We are here today to make sure the counts are correct.”
Haversat, who was not at Town Hall during the recount, said even though the outcome was the same, he felt the recount was necessary based on the higher vote totals.
“The votes needed to be counted fairly,” he said. “Now there can be some closure with the final count.”
Attending the recount for most of the day representing the Democratic Town Committee was Drayton-Rogers and Democratic chairman Peter Bunzl.
Representing the Republicans at the recount along with Yish were RTC Chairman Tom Kelly, and members Victor Catalano and Tony Montanero.
Newly elected town officials will be sworn in on Monday, Nov. 17.
