A recounting of the votes in the Saugus Board of Selectmen race resulted in a difference of a handful of votes, but candidates remained in the same order. And in Malden and Medford, recounts didn’t change the outcome in either school committee race.
Corinne Riley, the sixth place finisher in the race for five Board of Selectmen seats in Saugus, trailed fifth place finisher Mark Mitchell by 16 votes in the Nov. 7 election and filed a petition for the recount.
Riley said with the closeness of the results, she owed it to her supporters to ensure the process was not flawed, especially because the voting machines were new.
The town spent $55,000 on 11 new voting machines in September to replace tabulators that were more than two decades old.
Debra Panetta finished first with 2,314 votes, followed by Jeff Cicolini with 2,055, Jennifer D’Eon with 1,935, Scott Brazis with 1,905, and Mitchell with 1,662. Riley finished behind Mitchell with 1,646 votes. Michael Serino finished with 1,609. Michael Coller secured 995 votes and Assunta Palomba got 984.
The recount took eight hours on Monday and changed Mitchell’s results by two votes. He finished with 1660 votes, closing the gap between his final count and Riley’s to 14. Riley finished with the same amount of votes.
“The recount confirmed what the election results were three weeks ago,” said Mitchell. “We now see there weren’t issues with the new machines as was stated in the papers as reasons for a recount. Honestly, I was a little surprised that Corinne Riley, who asked for this process, didn’t have the class to acknowledge the results of the election with not so much as a congrats or even a simple handshake. It’s now time for Saugus to continue moving forward with the great team we’ve had in place for the last three years. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to take Saugus to heights it has never seen before.”
Mitchell thanked everyone who volunteered to help observe and work the recount, calling it a long day and a long and detailed process.
“They did a remarkable job,” he said.
“I am glad that I had the opportunity to request the recount and that it was performed in a timely manner, despite being attacked by a sitting selectman for exercising that right,” said Riley. “Regarding Mr. Mitchell’s comments about not congratulating him, I would say that respect is earned, not demanded, and that he should focus on his promise to treat people in town with respect, and not go out of his way to disrespect and attack his constituents and those of us who pay taxes in town. Despite his claims that the recount would result in the same difference of 16 votes, the resulting difference was less than 16 votes, and the final tally for many candidates changed. Therefore, the recount was worthwhile.”
Riley added that she wanted to serve on the Board of Selectmen to promote transparency, accountability, cooperation and to ensure that all voices are heard in Saugus.
The recount makes her feel satisfied that the voices of the voters have been heard. The closeness of the race should indicate to the sitting board that there is a lot of room for improvement with regard to transparency and accountability, she said.
Cicolini and Panetta also lost two votes, Palomba, Brazis and Coller each lost one, and Serino gained three. Clerks from other North Shore towns volunteered to assist in tabulating votes.
Town Counsel John Vasapolli said the results of the recount are final election results and candidates are not able to file for an additional recount of the votes. Only single ballots can be brought to court to be challenged, he said.
A two-vote win became a three-vote victory after a recount in Malden and Robert McCarthy Jr. will be the new Ward 2 School Committee member next term as the seat changes hands for the second time in as many elections.
McCarthy, who won his first municipal election in November after unsuccessful campaigns in the past two elections for other posts, bested incumbent Emmanuel Marsh by a 421-419 margin.
Monday’s Malden recount came up with one more vote for McCarthy. Malden Assistant Registrar of Voters Carol Ann Desiderio confirmed that the new official city of Malden total is 422 votes for McCarthy and 419 votes for Marsh, whose final tally did not change.
The operation taking more than eight hours concluded near 8:30 Monday night to confirm Malden’s original outcome. It has been 10 years since there was a recount in a Malden election, according to Desiderio. In 2007, a City Council and also a School Committee race were challenged, but neither final counts changed.
It was the second in as many elections a first-term incumbent was ousted by a challenger in as many elections. In 2015 Marsh topped incumbent first-termer Maria Doucette in a close finish.
McCarthy will be one of two new School Committee members for the 2018-2019 term. Political newcomer Jennifer Spadafora won the Ward 3 School Committee seat, which was open because incumbent Larry Silverman decided not to seek reelection.
Next door in Medford, longtime Medford School Committeeman Robert E. Skerry Jr. did pick up four more votes in that city’s recount Saturday, but it was not enough to get past the sixth-place and final seat winner Paul Ruseau, whose numbers remained the same, according to Medford City Clerk Ed Finn. Medford elects six School Committee members citywide.
Ruseau, a political newcomer, garnered 4,026 votes to Skerry’s original total of 3,988 votes in the November election. Skerry, who has served on the School Committee in 11 of the past 13 terms, dating to the late 1980s, picked up four votes in the recount, now officially at 3,992, but still out of the running. Ruseau had the same total in the recount, 4,026 votes for a now 34-vote victory.
Item contributor Steve Freker added to this report.
