CUMBERLAND — A ballot recount at the state Board of Elections in Providence yesterday morning resulted in a tie between incumbent Town Council member Bruce A. Lemois and challenger James N. McLaughlin for the final at-large seat in the Democratic primary.

The town Board of Canvassers will meet Monday morning with the candidates and the town legal counsel to determine how to break the deadlock.

Lemois and McLaughlin both finished with 2,855 votes out of the 8,830 votes cast. Town Council President James Higgins was the highest vote getter in the race with 3,120 votes, earning him a third term.

The two candidates with the highest number of votes will take a seat on the council, as there is no Republican candidate for the at-large seat.

McLaughlin, of 15 Garden St., requested the recount Thursday after the Board of Elections declared that he had finished third in the race, trailing Lemois, of 60 Mohawk St., by just three votes.

Eleven more votes were recorded in yesterday’s recount. Four of those votes went to Higgins, two to Lemois and five to McLaughlin. There were 30 provisional ballots, but only one was determined valid. That vote went to Lemois.

Board of Election commissioners determined yesterday that a number of voters had used ballpoint pens to mark the ballots, rather than those pens given out at polling stations, according to Robert Rapoza, director of elections.

As a result, those votes were not recorded by the automated counters. “If voters use a black ballpoint there is no guarantee that their votes will be registered,” he said.

Election commissioners yesterday ran ballots through voting machines, being careful to spot ballots misread, and manually tabulating those. Brandon S. Bell, the lawyer representing McLaughlin, said yesterday that his client was “very satisfied with the integrity of the process.”

The town Board of Canvassers will meet Monday at 9 a.m. in Council chambers in Town Hall.

McLaughlin will request that either the town hold a special election before the November general election or allow both candidates to remain on the November ballot, according to Bell. “It is my client’s position that we take it to the voters,” he said.

Lemois says that the town Democratic Committee should have final say on the matter.

“Both candidates sought their endorsement so we both understand the importance of that committee,” Lemois said. “Besides I wouldn’t call on the town to take on the added expense of a special election. It’s just not fair.”

Town Solicitor Thomas Hefner said that under state General Law 17-15-33, a primary election tie is determined by a vote of the party’s local committee.

According to that section, “If there is a failure to make a nomination or to elect a candidate to party office at any primary by reason of a tie vote, the vacancy….if in respect to an office other than a senatorial or representative district committee to be filled by the voters of no more than one city or town, or a portion of a city or town, the vacancy shall be filled by the city or town committee of the respective political party.”

Lemois is chair of the town Board of Licensing. He is seeking his second term in office. McLaughlin is a retired auto mechanic who lost a 2006 bid for an at-large School Committee seat.

Higgins, of 25 Rhode Island Ave., and Lemois were the party’s endorsed candidates.

pmarcelo@projo.com