Still no winner in Bristol Town Admin race

Steven Contente and Tony Teixeira — along with the rest of Bristol — are still waiting to find out who will sit in the town's top job.

The state Board of Elections is now saying it plans to count the 51 provisional ballots and 4 outstanding ballots that will determine the election sometime Tuesday afternoon, after last week saying the ballots would be counted on Monday. After last Tuesday's election, a recount of votes cast at the Roger Williams University polling location due to a technical error, and the counting of 934 absentee ballots last Thursday, Mr. Contente is in the lead by just 34 votes (4,853-4,819). 

With such a small margin separating the two candidates, the election comes down to the provisionals — ballots that were recorded but could not be counted on Election Day for various reasons. Perhaps a voter did not have a photo ID, or a voter's last name changed due to a marriage. Voters are still able to cast their ballots, but their identities must be confirmed later and their votes counted manually at the Board of Elections Providence office, Town Clerk Lou Cirillo explained.

Even after the final ballots are counted, the race still may not be over. Either candidate has until 4 p.m. Wednesday to file an appeal, triggering a full recount of every vote cast. Mr. Teixeira indicated on Friday that a recount is a real possibility.

"I might just ask for a recount if it remains that close," Mr. Teixeira said. "I want to clear the doubt, then accept whatever the results are — whatever is the will of the people."