Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island will not have complete election returns until probably tomorrow.

The state Board of Elections and related staff closed up shop this afternoon without counting mail-in ballots, board executive director Robert Kando said. The estimated number to be counted: 20,000.

The reason the board decided to finish for today without counting the mail-ins, Kando said, is that staff worked until close to midnight Tuesday, Election Day.

"The staff needs to go home tonight," he said.

As for the turnout, Kando said it look as though Rhode Island has set a record. The mail ballot count is expected to confirm that.

After working since this morning, the board has updated its unofficial vote tallies online, to include ballots in Smithfield and Cranston that could not be counted last night.

This afternoon, officials were certifying those mail-in ballots to be sure they were legitimate and properly submitted. They expect to start counting them tomorrow. It's unclear how many mail-in ballots were submitted. Statewide, 26,375 voters requested mail-in ballots.

Although the new numbers on the board's Web site do not include the tallies of mail-in ballots, the Smithfield results thus far indicate a turnover in local control on the Town Council.

Of 13 candidates vying for positions on the Town Council, a seat goes to the top five vote-getters.

It appears that four incumbents -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- from the Democrat-controlled council have retained their seats. The fifth seat now appears to belong to Republican Maxine A. Cavanagh, who is edging out incumbent Democrat Bernard A. Hawkins by 82 votes.

The Smithfield ballots needed to be recounted due to a printing error.

In Cranston, a misfeed double-counted a group of ballots, forcing the recount today. The updated numbers, however, have not affected the outcome of the local races.

-- With reports from Journal staff writers Bruce Landis and Barbara Polichetti

 Tags  Cranston election Smithfield

Comments

Roland said:

Hats off to the people who worked very hard at the polls.

I am very much interested in the absentee ballot count for the Levesque-Ottiano race.

I'm also interested in finding out how many estimated illegal aliens voted for Pichardo, Diaz and a few other who refused to protect American citizens and their jobs.

These two won with 90% of the vote.

Let's be realistic people, do you really think Pichardo, Diaz and other with a pro illegal stance won by fair voting?

Why isn't Mollis pushing for Voter ID? What is he afraid of, Democrats not winning with complicit voters?

Link | November 5, 2008 11:53 PM
Report Abuse

---

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.