PAWTUCKET — A ballot recount yesterday morning in the at-large City Council Democratic primary race did not alter last Tuesday’s election day results.

The top three vote-getters, in order, remain Albert J. Vitali Jr., Thomas E. Hodge and Lorenzo C. Tetreault. The three join Republican Joel M. Tirrell and independent candidate Michael W. Newman on the November general election ballot, with the three top finishers taking a seat on the council.

The recount had been requested by John S. Baxter Jr., a current School Committee member and endorsed Democrat who finished fourth in the vote tally, trailing Tetreault by 18 votes.

Yesterday’s recount, which took place at the state Board of Elections headquarters in Providence, resulted in 12,237 total votes, or one less than the total that was originally recorded.

Vitali and Hodge each lost one vote from their totals, finishing with 2,815 and 2,598, respectively. Baxter gained one vote, for a total of 2,437. That amount still left Baxter 17 votes behind Tetreault, whose vote count remained at 2,454.

Raymond J. Spooner Jr., a former School Committee chairman, finished fifth in the vote tally with 1,933. His total was also unchanged.

Baxter, who was present at the Board of Elections along with the top three vote getters, said yesterday that he will not challenge the recount. “I have accepted the results. We just have to move on now,” he said.

Baxter said he requested the recount after receiving two very differing sets of results on election night, one from the city Board of Canvassers that reported a 72-vote difference between him and Tetreault and another from the state Board of Elections tally, which showed an 18-vote difference.

“There was no clear answer. I owed it to my supporters and was within my rights to request the recount. It was not a personal thing,” he said.

Baxter, who will serve out the remainder of his term on the School Committee, also declined to contest the 26 provisional ballots that had been disqualified by the city Board of Canvassers. There were four provisional ballots included in the final count.

The results of the recount assure that coming into the general election, Democratic Mayor James E. Doyle will have two potential allies –– Hodge and Tetreault –– in the at-large race, while his opponent, independent City Councilor Donald R. Grebian, will have at least one, Vitali.

Hodge, a longtime city councilor, and Tetreault, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, are the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidates. Vitali is a local businessman and former Ward 3 City Councilor who lost to current councilor Henry S. Kinch, Jr. in 2006.

–– With reports from staff writer John Castellucci.

pmarcelo@projo.com