DAVID BENNETT

The Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — The state Board of Elections yesterday unanimously certified Erin P. Lynch’s victory in last week’s Democratic primary for the District 31 Senate seat in Warwick and rejected a request by her rival, David Bennett, for a new election.

Bennett said he was considering an appeal of the board’s decision to the state Supreme Court. If he does not prevail, Lynch will face Republican Thomas M. Madden in November for the seat held by Democrat John C. Revens Jr., who opted against seeking reelection after 40 years in the Senate.

A recount, held on Monday at the elections board’s Branch Avenue offices, dropped a vote from Bennett’s election night totals, giving him 848 votes to Lynch’s 859.

Bennett’s lawyer, Angel Taveras, said that based on numbers from the Board of Elections and the Warwick Board of Canvassers, 31 ballots did not have corresponding ballot applications. Even under the best circumstances, Taveras said, as many as 19 Republicans apparently voted in the Democratic primary.

“It’s a big enough difference to make a difference, without a doubt,” he told the board.

One of Lynch’s lawyers, Sarah Taft-Carter, argued that Bennett should have brought up the issue of the Republican voters in his initial protest that called for the recount, and not waited until Tuesday to broach the issue.

David Revens, Lynch’s other lawyer, quoted a prior legal decision that concluded “a mere mathematical possibility is not sufficient enough to overturn an election.”

“We never knew how the voters voted,” Revens said. “And it’s strong public policy to have finality in elections. With six weeks to the general election, we should certify these results and move on.”

The discrepancy Taveras pointed to in the numbers, while troubling, was not unheard of, said elections board member Florence G. Gormley, who said she knew of cases where ballot applications turned up weeks after the election was over. If she had to choose to go by the votes or the ballot application count, Gormley said the choice was clear.

“I’d think I’d have to go by the votes,” she said.

Lynch yesterday thanked her lawyers and said she was glad the primary apparently was behind her.

“I’m relieved, but I still have a lot of work to do,” said Lynch, a lawyer in private practice.

Bennett, 53, a nurse, said he needed to confer with his legal counsel before deciding whether to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court.

“I feel Democratic voters should be represented and the candidate they wanted should be the one that’s in,” he said. “It shouldn’t be tainted by the Republican vote.”

tbuford@projo.com