Recount changes winner of last seat on commission

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NAUGATUCK — A recount triggered by a mistake at one of the polling locations Tuesday resulted in a change in the winning candidates for the Zoning Commission, though the margin is still so close there will be another full recount of the race.

According to Registrar of Voters Matthew Katra, 36 write-in ballots at the Andrew Avenue School polls were double counted when moderator Debbie Cryan ran them through the voting machine at the end of the night Tuesday.

“It was a mistake. It was caught. It was rectified,” Katra said.

Tuesday night, election officials reported that Republican Sally Brouillet won a seat on the Zoning Commission with 1,383 votes, seven more than Democrat Wayne Malicki’s 1,376.

After the recount Thursday afternoon, Malicki was up nine votes over Brouillet, Katra said, which would give Malicki the last seat on the five-member commission.

But because the difference between the two candidates was less than 20 votes, it triggered an automatic recount of all the other polling locations on Monday.

After the recount on Monday, there was a slight shift in numbers but not enough to change winners, Democratic Registrar of Voters Louise Sheedy

Although the race for deputy mayor was also less than 20 votes apart, with Democrat Laurie Taf-Jackson 15 votes ahead of Republican Robert Neth on election night, there was not a recount of that race since both candidates won seats on the Board of Burgesses, Katra said. Regardless, Taf-Jackson picked up another six votes in the Andrew Avenue recount, pushing her to a 21-vote lead.

Luke Marshall contributed to this article.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the original post to include the results of Monday’s borough-wide recount.