Extra: Election
R.I. Supreme Court puts primary contests on hold
07:03 AM EDT on Thursday, October 2, 2008
The state Supreme Court yesterday ordered the Board of Elections to recount all ballots in the Senate District 31 race that so far has Erin B. Lynch besting David A. Bennett by a narrow margin.
In ruling yesterday, the high court put those Democratic primary results on hold as well as those for another tightly contested race that threatens to oust Senate Finance Chairman Stephen Alves until the full court can consider whether to take up both appeals next Thursday. The court yesterday, however, did not order a recount in the Alves race.
The decisions came two days after lawyers involved in the Alves’ contest met in chambers with Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg.
Alves and Bennett had asked the court to order full recounts and ultimately new elections because of what they viewed as discrepancies in the ballots.
The elections board must complete a recount of all votes, including mail and provisional ballots, in the District 31 primary by Monday, according to the three-judge panel’s decision.
Reached last night, Bennett said he was pleased.
“The way we’re looking at it is there are way too many discrepancies,” said Bennett, a psychiatric nurse from Warwick. “The more people think the election is fixed, the more cynical they become.”
The board’s results show Lynch, a Warwick lawyer who was endorsed by the party, defeating Bennett by 11 votes. The winner in that race will face Republican Thomas M. Madden in November for the seat held by Warwick Democrat John C. Revens Jr., who opted against seeking reelection after 40 years in the Senate.
Lynch could not be reached for comment last night.
The court, in a ruling by Goldberg, did not order a recount in the contest between political newcomer Michael J. Pinga and longtime West Warwick legislator Alves. Results there have Pinga, a West Warwick baker, outpacing Alves by 19 votes. Whoever wins that race will not face a challenger in November.
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