A dayslong recount of more than 26,000 ballots in a contested Worcester City Council race ended up not changing the results of the election earlier this month.
City workers and volunteers conducted the recount Saturday and Sunday, evaluating every ballot to ensure that ovals were filled properly. At-Large City Council candidate Jermoh Kamara had requested the hand recount after finishing 23 votes behind incumbent Morris Bergman on election night.
The retallying saw Bergman’s lead grow to 32 votes, just enough to win Worcester’s final at-large seat.
“I am looking forward to getting to work in the new council term,” Bergman wrote on Facebook Sunday night after workers finished counting ballots. “Thank you to all the friends/supporters who helped with the recount and/or with moral and other support.”
The recount at the North High School gym involved more than a hundred election workers and volunteers at 30 different stations going through ballots. City Clerk Nikolin Vangjeli said the process amounted to reviewing over 300,000 ovals from voters’ ballots in the At-Large City Council race.
Kamara and Bergman had supporters at each table observing the retallying to ensure every vote was counted appropriately. The dozens of observers were able to dispute whether certain votes counted depending on the way the ballots were filled out.
The final results were nearly identical to those on election night: Kamara finished seventh out of 12 candidates for Worcester’s six At-Large City Council positions. She secured 9,347 votes compared to the 9,379 by Bergman, who finished sixth.
After Vangjelin announced the final tally Sunday, Kamara struck a positive tone in a message on Instagram, calling the recount and help from observers an exercise of democracy.
“I extend my sincere thanks to the City of Worcester Election Commission and all poll workers for their service,” she wrote. “I also thank our entire team, legal counsel, consultants, endorsers and every voter who [cast] their ballot for us.”
The end of the recount finalizes the results of an election that shook up Worcester’s city government. Half a dozen new candidates won seats on City Council. Bergman was among the five incumbents who retained their positions.
