Joseph J. Giammarco, left, listens to former Mayor Richard Fossa, while former interim-Mayor John Sisto Jr., center, and Mayor Charles Lombardi, watch the Board of Elections recount the last ballots. Giammarco won a seat on the North Providence Town Council.

The Providence Journal STEVE SZYDLOWSKI

PROVIDENCE — The state Board of Elections confirmed Joseph J. Giammarco’s Democratic primary win over John Sisto Jr. for a seat on the North Providence Town Council after conducting a recount yesterday.

Sisto, who had requested the recount after polling place totals last week showed him trailing Giammarco by 53 votes, gained some and lost some in yesterday’s recount, but in the end managed to narrow his opponent’s lead by 2 votes. The final count: 1,057 votes for Giammarco and 1,006 for Sisto.

Kerry Brusini, director of canvassing and registrations, said Sisto gained five votes and Giammarco gained one vote when officials reviewed six provisional ballots that hadn’t been opened until yesterday. The law allows the use of provisional ballots for voters who previously have been inactive and who may require some verification before their ballots are deemed qualified.

But while Sisto had a net gain from the provisional ballots, he lost one vote when officials recounted ballots cast at the Marieville Elementary School, while Giammarco garnered one more vote from the recount at the Dr. Joseph Whelan Elementary School.

The two candidates, along with Mayor Charles Lombardi, his chief of staff, G. Richard Fossa, and a bevy of local and state election officials were on hand for the recount at the board’s offices on Branch Avenue in Providence.

Sisto, accompanied by his lawyer, Fred Marzilli, said he didn’t have any high expectations of changing the outcome, but felt that he owed it to himself and his supporters to make sure that no mistakes had been made.

North Providence has had some very narrow election finishes, including a race in 1976 when a candidate for council won a three-way contest by five votes.

Even before hearing his win confirmed, Giammarco said he was a very happy man, and “nothing can take that happiness away no matter what happens today.”

With no opponent to run against in the general election, Giammarco, a maintenance technician with the state Department of Transportation, will be automatically elected to the council and should take his seat when town officials are installed in January. He will replace Councilman John Fleming, who did not seek reelection.

“People have said to me, ‘Now that you’re elected, you’ll get this benefit, or that benefit.’ I don’t care about that. I don’t care about pensions or health benefits. I already have that. All I care about is serving the people, and I think I’ll prove myself very well in the next four years. I want to thank my family, especially my wife, Kathleen, and all my volunteers who worked so hard to make this possible.”

Lombardi, who actively supported Giammarco, said he believes that Giammarco will be a “great asset” to the council. “I think it’s better for any town to have people on the town council who are ready to offer new ideas.”

Yesterday’s final tally showed that Giammarco did particularly well at the Birchwood Elementary School, amassing 447 votes there to Sisto’s 172. He also outperformed Sisto at the Whelan school, garnering 237 votes to Sisto’s 181.

Sisto did well at the town’s three other polling places, gathering 374 votes at the Marieville school to Giammarco’s 202; 197 votes at the Marieville Fire Station to Giammarco’s 125; and 57 votes to Giammarco’s 28 at the American Legion Club on Charles Street.

The absentee mail ballots, which were counted on primary night, split 20 votes for Sisto and 17 for Giammarco.

rdujardi@projo.com