The Rhode Island Board of Elections approved seven of nine requests for recounts in races in the Nov. 5 election at its meeting meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Screenshot)
Republican Christopher Paplauskas maintained his victory over Democrat Maria Bucci in Cranston’s House District 15 race after a three-hour recount at the Rhode Island Board of Elections was completed Thursday around 1 p.m.
The recount was one of three involving tight legislative contests approved for further review by the state elections panel at its meeting Thursday morning.
Before the House recount, Bucci had trailed Paplauskas by 22 votes. After the recount, Paplauskas led by 26 votes; a total 4,343 votes were cast for Paplauskas and 3,317 for Bucci.
“That’s democracy, I enjoyed it,” said Paplauskas, who was present with his attorney at the elections board’s Cranston offices to observe the recount.
He has served five terms on the Cranston City Council, but could not seek reelection because of term limits. He said his first run for the General Assembly marked the first time he had ever experienced being in a race that went to a recount.
Bucci was also present with her attorney. “She congratulated me after I thanked her for running a great race,” Paplauskas said.
Bucci could not be reached for comment after the recount.
A recount for Warwick’s Senate District 29 was still underway as of 4 p.m. Republican Sen. Anthony DeLuca trailed Democratic challenger Peter Appollonio Jr. by 65 votes as of Thursday morning.
It wasn’t clear if the board would get to the recount for Warwick’s House District 21 race before Friday. Democrat James McElroy was trailing Republican Marie Hopkins by 85 votes as of Thursday morning for the open seat to replace outgoing Democrat Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson.
The recounts won’t change the power balance of the 113-seat Rhode Island General Assembly, which remains solidly under Democratic control.
The elections panel approved seven of nine recount requests, rejecting a request for a recount from Republican Janine Wolf who trailed Democratic Rep. Jennifer Boylan by 2,459 votes in the race for House District 66, which covers Barrington and the Riverside part of East Providence. The margin was too wide to qualify for a recount under state elections law.
Barrington Town Council race is special case
State law allows the candidate who is trailing up to seven days after an election to request a recount. But a tight race for the Barrington Town Council has illuminated a legal gap involving recount requests in Rhode Island.
The third and fourth highest vote-getters for the Barrington council race changed places after military and overseas ballots were tabulated Wednesday night, along with mail ballots that were verified after being flagged for signature checks. Three seats were open on the town’s five-member council on which councilors serve four-year terms.
A total of 2,048 military and overseas ballots were received statewide, said Board of Elections spokesperson Christopher Hunter.
Democratic candidate Jordan M. Jancosek rose from fourth highest vote-getter to third among six candidates while independent Brian D. Hughes dropped from third place to fourth place.
Jancosek had asked the state elections panel for a recount before Tuesday’s deadline. At the time, she was the trailing candidate by 10 votes, 4427 to 4417, according to Barrington Town Clerk Meredith DeSisto.
In races where one candidate is elected and more than 20,000 votes are cast, state law allows a candidate who trails a winning candidate by 0.5% or 150 votes, whichever is less, to request a recount. Over 23,000 votes were cast in the race.
But now that Jancosek leads Hughes by nine votes with a total of 4,447 votes to Hughes’ 4,438 votes, Hughes is the candidate with standing, not Jancosek. He just didn’t know it until after the deadline to request a recount, he told the board Thursday.
“The most prudent way for any candidate to handle this is if you are in a close election make the request and then withdraw it, but that wasn’t done here. It was done by one candidate, not both,” Board of Elections lawyer Raymond A. Marcoccio told the board.
“I wish I could say there’s an easy answer,” Marcoccio added. “I can say what the most fair answer would be, but I’m having a little trouble finding the statutory underpinnings allowing someone to seek a request beyond the seven-day limit when they haven’t done so in that time frame.”
BOE Executive Director Miguel Nunez told the board that he received an email from Jancosek before the board’s 9:15 a.m. meeting began that she was not rescinding her recount request.
The board voted 5-0 to approve Jancosek’s recount request, which was scheduled to take place Friday at 11 a.m. at its Cranston offices. Board members Marcela Betancur and Diane Mederos were absent.
Board Chairwoman Jennifer L. Johnson said the special case of the Barrington race is likely to be flagged when the board puts together its annual package of legislative requests to the General Assembly.
Jancosek said she would be unable to attend the recount on Friday but that representatives from the Democratic Town Committee would be present to observe the proceedings.
“I chose not to rescind my recount request because I believe in fair, free elections and elections with integrity,” Jancosek told Rhode Island Current in an email. “This applies to all candidates — not just myself. We — and the Town of Barrington — are entitled to an honest and honorable final tally.”
Recounts are also scheduled in the Ward 4 race for Warwick City Council, Woonsocket City Council and Richmond Town Council.
Certification of all election results is scheduled to occur on Thursday, Nov. 21, at which time results will become official.
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