Erin P. Lynch watches yesterday’s recount at the state Board of Elections, which affirmed her Democratic primary victory over David Bennett for the Warwick’s District 31 Senate seat. At Bennett’s request, the board has scheduled a hearing tomorrow to further examine ballots.

The Providence Journal Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — A recount by the state Board of Elections yesterday affirmed Erin P. Lynch’s victory in last week’s Democratic primary for a Warwick Senate seat. But the board will hold a hearing tomorrow afternoon at the request of her opponent, David Bennett, to further examine ballots.

Yesterday’s recount, in the board’s Branch Avenue offices, dropped a vote from Bennett’s Tuesday night tally, giving him 848 votes to Lynch’s 859.

If Lynch prevails, she will face Republican Thomas M. Madden in November for the District 31 seat held by Democrat John C. Revens Jr. Revens, who has served in the Senate for four decades, chose not to seek reelection.

The recount was one of five the elections board has conducted in the wake of last Tuesday’s primary. The results in the race are not yet certified, said board member Florence G. Gormley.

Bennett outpaced Lynch in the machine count, 839 to 832, but she pulled ahead by capturing 27 mail ballots compared with Bennet’s 9.

“Any time there’s a vote this close, you just want to make sure that every vote is counted,” Bennett, 53, a nurse, said. “You just want it to come out fair and make sure that every one is heard.”

“I would have done the exact same thing,” Lynch, 33, a lawyer, said yesterday of Bennett’s recount requst. “I just met him for the first time today. He’s a nice guy. He wished me luck and I wished him luck. After two months of campaigning, we’ve continued to be civil. That’s a testament to his campaign.”

“We both fought hard and worked hard,” she said. “Now I’ve got to get ready for the General Election.”

The elections board scheduled a 3 p.m. hearing tomorrow on Bennett’s formal protest. His lawyer, Angel Taveras, said details of what the board will be asked to consider have not yet been decided.

Bennett asked that any ballots that were improperly marked be examined to determine voter intent, rather than just omitting them from the tally, and he requested a hand review of any ballot rejected by the ballot machines.

In addition, Bennett requested a comparison between the number of ballot applications and the number of ballots cast in the primary.

Also yesterday, a recount solidified political newcomer Michael J. Pinga’s victory over political powerhouse Stephen D. Alves in the Democratic primary race for the West Warwick Senate seat in District 9.

Alves, too, filed a protest yesterday, alleging discrepancies between the number of ballots and ballot signatures collected during the election. (Story, A1.)

Lynch, however, is hoping yesterday’s count will be the end of the saga for the Warwick race.

“We both fought hard and worked hard,” she said. “Now I’ve got to get ready for the General Election.”

tbuford@projo.com