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November 30, 2006

Fortunato denies stay, ballot issue to Supreme Court

PROVIDENCE -- Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato today refused to stay yesterday's ruling that the state Board of Elections must release photocopies of rejected ballots for public inspection.

The board appealed to Fortunato this morning seeking to delay his order pending a state Supreme Court review. The board's attorney argued that allowing the public to view ballots would compromise the objectivity of the election process and could be extremely time consuming.

But Fortunato refused to comply with the request.

The Board of Elections has already asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, but an emergency hearing this week is unlikely, according to court spokesman Craig Berke.

East Providence Mayor Joseph Larisa Jr. is asking to review 96 problem ballots that were photocopied during a recount earlier in the week. He trails his challenger by 16 votes and hopes the inclusion of some rejected ballots could give him an edge.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that the rejected ballots must be photocopied, but did not say the public could review them to argue for their inclusion in the final vote tally.

East Providence officials have scheduled an inauguration ceremony tomorrow. They plan to proceed even without the certification of the final city council spot. The ultimate winner of that race would be sworn in later.

-- Projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples with reports from Journal Staff Writer Alisha A. Pina

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 12:51 PM | Permalink

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