CUMBERLAND — The town Board of Canvassers voted unanimously yesterday morning to allow the Democratic Town Committee to break the deadlock in the Democratic primary for the final at-large Town Council seat.

The Democratic Town Committee will choose between incumbent Town Council member Bruce A. Lemois and James N. McLaughlin, who, after a ballot recount at the state Board of Elections on Friday, were tied for second with 2,855 votes out of the 8,830 votes cast in the primary race.

The 51-member committee will vote Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the town library on Diamond Hill Road.

Democratic committee Vice Chairman Kevin Crawley said the committee’s bylaws require a minimum seven days notice before a vote and a quorum of 15 members to hold the vote. A majority of votes by secret ballot will determine the winner.

Meeting in council chamber yesterday, the Board of Canvassers decided to give the committee final say in the race, based on a recommendation of Town Solicitor Thomas Hefner, who cited state General Law 17-15-33.

That law, says Hefner, leaves a primary election tie to be determined by a vote of the party’s local committee. The Town Charter is silent on what happens in the event of a tie in an election.

During the June party endorsement vote, Lemois won 23 votes to McLaughlin’s 5, earning him the party’s support.

McLaughlin said he will not accept a vote from the committee. “The whole process is tainted,” he said. “I’m hoping Mr. Lemois will step up to the plate and leave it to voters in the general election. It’s not about us, but about the voters that are being disenfranchised.”

Lemois supported the board vote yesterday and rejected McLaughlin’s view. “I’m not sure how they are disenfranchised. Each person got to vote. The question is how to break a tie. We are following the rules” on how to break a tie, he said.

McLaughlin’s attorney, Brandon S. Bell, said he has notified the Board of Canvassers that he will file a court injunction to try to stop the committee vote on the grounds that state law 17-15-33 is unconstitutional. He will also ask the court to verify the 36 provisional ballots in the race (only one of those ballots was counted by the state, and that vote went to Lemois).

The other candidate on the November ballot will be incumbent council President James Higgins, who was the highest vote getter in the primary and is also a Democrat. There is no Republican challenger, so the top two vote getters from the primary will likely take a seat on the council.

pmarcelo@projo.com