EAST PROVIDENCE — First they argued whether the current Canvassing Authority could be fair and impartial. Then the debate shifted to where all the lawyers and their clients should sit.

When it was all over, clusters of people continued their discussions in the hallway, on the elevator, downstairs in the City Hall lobby, in the parking lot and even in and around a parked SUV on Taunton Avenue.

But there was news at Tuesday night’s authority meeting: All challenges to candidates’ nomination papers were dismissed, withdrawn or dropped. The first challenge was against former state Rep. Brian G. Coogan and produced the longest hearing before the three-member board. The Democratic City Committee chairman, Nuno A. Branco, had filed a complaint against the Ward 2 City Council candidate because he questioned whether Coogan witnessed every signature on his nomination papers. Coogan signed affidavits stating he did, but resident Victor Silva, of 12 Elm Ave., has told The Journal that he collected some of Coogan’s signatures.

Branco had a lawyer, Frederic A. Marzilli, of East Providence, representing him and Coogan had two, Kevin J. Bristow and former House Speaker John B. Harwood.

Authority member Thomas C. Riley questioned whether the challenge was valid. He said Branco did not submit supporting evidence, which is required; all he did was attach The Journal article to Silva’s comments.

Further delaying the hearing, Riley asked if Marzilli was in a locked office with chairwoman Dorothy O’Gara and canvassing administrator Maryann Callahan last week. Marzilli wouldn’t answer and O’Gara said it didn’t seem relevant.

City Solicitor William Conley Jr. said it is “troubling” if any of the board members discussed the hearing and evidence with counsel before the proceedings or if members participated in the challenge process. He suggested the members “put it all on the table now.”

Riley said he helped another candidate with part of her challenge. Member Peter Barilla Sr. said he had not spoken with anyone and O’Gara said she did not talk about the case while Marzilli was in the office. She said she asked Callahan to close the door because she knew Riley was coming in to sign papers and she did not want to speak with him.

“You were in there for an awful, awful long time,” Riley said. “I don’t like this one bit ... this secret society. It’s just wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Said Bristow, “I think there is an appearance of impropriety and Ms. O’Gara, in the interest of fairness, should recuse herself from voting. It just smells. It looks terrible.”

Marzilli finally said he was only reviewing documents and waiting for others to be copied for him. He said he did not discuss the case with O’Gara and believes she can still be an “objective trier of fact.”

After O’Gara refused to withdraw from the discussion, Republican City Committee Cchairman Robert Carlin called O’Gara a “pathological liar.”

Marzilli also questioned if Riley could be impartial. He was holding another Journal article in which Riley, a Republican, criticized several city Democrats.

That’s when the first witness, Branco, was called to testify. An hour had already passed.

Branco said he filed the challenge against Coogan — and an identical challenge against newcomer Shannon Barbosa — because, based on his experience in collecting signatures for nomination papers, Branco found it “almost impossible” for one person to get all those signatures in such a short time.

In his testimony, Coogan admitted he didn’t collect all the signatures and had helpers, but “could not recall” who they were, other than Silva. He also could not recall which specific nomination papers he handled, but said he personally got at least 300 signatures.

The canvassing office said Coogan submitted 397 signatures and 280 were certified. He only needed 200 to be valid to continue his pursuit for a City Council seat.

When pressured further regarding Coogan’s knowledge of the law and the importance of the affidavits he signed, Coogan said Callahan told him she “wasn’t going to nitpick” and said he needs to “just make sure it’s signed and notarized.”

Coogan also said there wasn’t enough space for his helpers to also sign the affidavits. During closing arguments, Marzilli emphasized that an accurate affidavit is a “strict requirement,” and not a suggestion, to become a qualified candidate.

Coogan’s lawyers said that even the one set of nomination papers Marzilli discussed in detail were “tainted,” it doesn’t mean the others are. They also said Coogan has 200 signatures, even if that set of papers was thrown out, and therefore the complaint is “moot.”

The board members could not come to any agreement. Riley wanted to dismiss it because he said Coogan and Barbosa, who is running for School Committee, are being “dragged out and pilloried when this is really an administrative problem” by Callahan and the canvassing office, which he called a “lemonade stand.” O’Gara didn’t want to dismiss it because she said she expects Coogan “to be truthful” when he signs the affidavits and he wasn’t.

And Barilla didn’t want to take any action without further investigation. Conley said the 1-1-1 deadlock meant the challenge is defeated.

The majority of the packed audience left when the authority began Barbosa’s hearing. She is running for the Ward 2 School Committee seat and also signed all the affidavits for her nomination papers. Like Coogan, she also submitted more than enough signatures to continue to the next phase of the election process.

She pointed out which nomination papers she personally collected and said she supervised with the collection of the others. She also said she didn’t read all of the guidebook for candidates and didn’t read what she was signing in front of the notary.

The canvassing office workers “should have explained it better to me,” Barbosa said in her defense. She did not have legal representation: “… I did not deceive anyone. That’s not who I am.”

“I realized there was only so much you can do as a parent,” Barbosa said in closing. “My only goal [for running] was to be a voice for the children. This [the hearing] is a nightmare, but I refuse to back down because I care about the kids that much.”

She continued, “My name has been nothing but thrown in the mud and I don’t deserve this … I worked very hard to get those signatures whether Nuno [Branco] believes me or not. I’m not lying. That should count for something. I’m an honest person.”

Yet Marzilli argued again that the law is not something you can “disregard.”

Barilla and Riley voted to dismiss the challenge shortly thereafter. O’Gara voted against the motion.

“I think it was our fault that she was given the wrong information,” Barilla said. “She appears to me to be a very honest individual. She really came out and put her heart into this.”

Said Riley, “I think Mrs. Barbosa is a victim of the canvassing office. It’s just wrong the way it’s been handled.”

Getting a hug from people in the audience, Barbosa said, “Oh that is so exhausting. I can have a good night’s sleep now.”

She then withdrew her complaint against School Committee candidate Brian Monteiro (who failed to get enough signatures to stay on the ballot). The board thanked her repeatedly for the action.

apina@projo.com