Recount Will Be Held Friday

A recount of ballots cast in the Democratic primary in the fifth house district (Windsor, Hartford) will be held Friday afternoon, according to the Windsor Town Clerk's office.

The recount will be held at 4 p.m. in council chambers.

As it stands, Windsor Democratic Town Committee Chair Leo Canty is tied with Hartford's Brandon McGee; each having received 774 votes.

A recount is generally a rare procedure for Windsor's election staff; however, this will be the second recount in town in fewer than 10 months.

The last recount was held in 2011's municipal election.

The November 11 recount did not change the results of the election, but significant differences in vote tallies were uncovered.

Republican board of education member Christina Santos gained 100 votes from a single precinct in the recount.

Per procedure dictated by the Secretary of State's office, the ballots from the polling places in which votes were cast for Canty, McGee or Don Trinks will be combed over by hand in an effort to identify any ballots cast that may have triggered an incorrect reading when passed through counting machines.

Ballots that may have been filled out incorrectly would trigger an incorrect reading.

Windsor's voting system requires voters to completely fill in ovals next to each candidate's name; however, a voter may have drawn an "x" through the oval, or circled the oval. Machines will not register these as votes, Karen Andrews, the Republican registrar of voters, told Windsor Patch prior to the town's last recount.

If defective ballots are found, workers will interpret the intent of the voter, Andrews said.

The remaining ballots, with correctly placed votes, will be placed through voting machines again.

A recount of Hartford votes is scheduled to take place early next week.

The winner of the primary will represent the Democratic party on the ballot in November.

Windsor board of education minority leader Paul Panos is the Republican party candidate.