SMITHFIELD — Citing “voting irregularities,” two Democratic candidates for the Town Council have asked the state Board of Elections to order a new election.

Such a development would apparently be unprecedented in Rhode Island, Lawrence J. Mancini, chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said yesterday.

The elections board will take up the question at 4 p.m. on Monday, according to Robert Kando, executive director of the panel.

The request for a new election came from Bernard H. Hawkins, vice president of the Town Council, and David M. Fanning, who sought election for the first time. Initial figures showed Hawkins losing narrowly to a Republican candidate, which, if upheld, would place the Republicans in control of the council, now dominated by Democrats. Hawkins and Fanning have also asked the Board of Elections for a recount.

What caused a bit of a furor on Election Day was the appearance on the ballot of the name of a Democratic council candidate, Richard A. DiIorio, who had dropped out before the election. State elections officials hastily provided new ballots with DiIorio’s name omitted once the error was discovered, but that did not make the problem go away.

Angel Taveras, a lawyer representing Councilman Hawkins, asserted that Board of Elections figures show that Hawkins would have won reelection had DiIorio’s name not been on the ballot.

Mancini said that as party chairman he was summoned to the polling place at the Old County Road School on the morning of Election Day.

The problem was that the voting machines were programmed to accept a paper ballot that contained the names of only five Republican and four Democratic candidates for council. DiIorio’s name however was added to that list, confusing the machines.

“There is some degree of disenfranchisement, and that would probably be the essence of a request for a new election,” Mancini said. “The folks who voted in the morning don’t count. They lost their right to vote.”

He said that to his knowledge there has never been a repeat election in Rhode Island.

“In federal court, it would clearly be a constitutional challenge, because in effect there were two elections held in Smithfield — one in the morning with an extra candidate’s name on the ballot,” he said

Mancini said the Board of Elections on Monday may make a decision on a new election, or might defer to the town’s Board of Canvassers. If neither board acts, “it could end up in state or federal court,” he said.

In the meantime, until the Board of Elections rules on a new election or certifies the results of Nov. 4, the current members of the Town Council will apparently remain in office.

With staff reports from Gina Macris

tmorgan@projo.com