BARRINGTON — Dana Peloso, a Republican running for the District 67 House seat, could be forced out of the race unless he can verify that signatures on his nomination papers were properly collected.

At a meeting yesterday, the Board of Canvassers voted to certify only 4 of the 28 signatures of registered voters submitted by Peloso, a first-time candidate for elected office in Rhode Island who is vying for the seat held by Democrat Jan Malik.

Under state law, as a candidate for the House of Representatives, Peloso was required by July 11 to collect the signatures of at least 50 registered voters in the district that includes parts of Barrington and Warren. But he is currently short of that minimum number because of questions surrounding the signatures he submitted to the town clerks’ offices in both towns.

In Warren, only 33 of the signatures were accepted by the local Board of Canvassers while an undetermined number were disqualified. The board is set to meet in the next several days to discuss the matter, according to its chairman Vinny Calenda. He would not explain why the signatures were not accepted except to say there were “discrepancies.”

With the 33 signatures in Warren and 4 in Barrington, Peloso would not have the minimum needed, falling short by 13 names. Yesterday, Claire Boyes, the chairwoman of the three-member Barrington Board of Canvassers, said it appeared many of the signatures Peloso provided on his papers did not match the signatures on individuals’ voter registration forms stored in Town Hall.

“We have some questionable signatures,” she said.

The board contacted three people who appeared to have signed Peloso’s forms. Each of them said they had not signed them, according to Boyes and board member Keri Cronin.

“Each name must be verified,” said Cronin.

But in an interview yesterday, Barry Lucier, Peloso’s campaign manager, said he could vouch for the names. Campaign workers went door-to-door in the district collecting those signatures.

“I’m baffled,” he said. There was some confusion about the meeting yesterday. After convening at 3 p.m., the board went down the list of candidates and tallied the number of certified signatures for each. At about 3:15 p.m., the board voted to certify its numbers. There was no substantial discussion about Peloso’s signatures because neither he nor anyone from his campaign had arrived.

Lucier said they got to Town Hall at about 3:30 p.m. after getting stuck in traffic on Route 114. According to Lucier, the board reconvened to listen to the arguments that he and Peloso made in support of the validity of the signatures.

The board, however, did not reconsider its vote. Lucier said Boyes told them the people whose signatures were in question need to come to Town Hall to vouch for themselves by 2:30 p.m. today when the papers will be submitted to the Secretary of State’s office.

Lucier said if the campaign cannot get enough people to Town Hall in time, Peloso will file an appeal with the state.

Peloso said Tuesday that he had contacted all of the people whose signatures had been disqualified and they had confirmed signing his papers. Yesterday, before the meeting, he said he was confident in his case.

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.

akuffner@projo.com