Community Corner

Cheshire Election Recount on Monday

The Town Council District 4 vote totals will be recounted on Monday

What began as a tie vote on Tuesday became a two-vote margin by Thursday after the Registrars of Voters reviewed voting results for the District 4 Town Council Seat.

Democratic Registrar of Voters Aleta Looker said staff members reviewed the hard copy tapes from the voting machines which scan the ballots. That review gave Democratic candidate Peter Talbot a two-vote lead over Republican incumbent Steve Carroll, she said.

A formal recount, however, is still required by state law. The recount will begin Monday at 1 p.m. at Cheshire Town Hall. Looker said all of the 4th District ballots will be rescanned to determine if the vote total changes.

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Town Clerk Carolyn Soltis said an automatic recount is needed if the vote difference is less than a certain percentage of total votes. In this election, the difference is about 20 votes, she said.

The unofficial total Tuesday night showed Talbot and Carroll were tied at 797 votes each.

Find out what's happening in Cheshirewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At the time, both Looker and Soltis thought the tie vote could affect the at-large candidate who received the least amount of votes. State law requires at least two of nine Town Councilors be members of the minority party. If Talbot did win, the thinking went, another Democrat might be bumped from a seat.

However, Looker said Thursday the registrars reviewed the tie-vote situation and no changes are required for at-large candidates. "The at-large results stand as is," she said.

Carroll predicted a special election will have to be held, but that possibility won't be clear until the recount is finalized.


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