WINSLOW — A voting recount conducted Friday morning found a tie between the two candidates who ran in the Nov. 7 election for the Town Council seat in District 3.

The result is the town might hold a special election to decide a winner.

Lee Trahan, 46, called for the recount in his race against incumbent councilor Jerry Quirion, 71, for the seat’s three-year term.

The unofficial results the night of Nov. 7 showed that Quirion won the election with 173 votes to Trahan’s 170 — a difference of three votes. The results of the recount, however, found a tie of 173-173.

The Town Council will vote on certifying the recount at its next meeting, at 7 p.m. Dec. 11. If the councilors approve the recount results, another election will be held. If they do not approve it, Quirion will remain a councilor.

Newly elected councilors in Winslow typically are sworn in at the January meeting.

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This is the first time in at least a decade that a Town Council candidate has called for a recount. Town Clerk Pam Smiley said this is the first recount she can recall conducting since she started working in Winslow in 2006.

The original ballots were counted by a machine, but in the recount the 384 votes were counted by hand by Smiley and two other counters.

In the recount, the counters look for voter intent, Smiley said. She found one questionable ballot that she found was intended to show a vote for Trahan.

If the council doesn’t agree with Smiley’s finding, the race would go to Quirion. If it certifies her recount and findings, another election would be held for District 3.

No date for that potential election has been set yet.

Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239

mstamour@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @madelinestamour


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