Rhode Island’s Board of Elections voted unanimously Monday to deny a manual recount request from Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Elaine Pelino, ruling that she failed to meet the legal threshold and did not present sufficient evidence of irregularities.
Pelino, 72, of North Smithfield, trailed primary opponent Aaron Guckian by 259 votes. State law sets the maximum margin for an automatic recount at 231 votes, meaning Pelino’s deficit exceeded the qualifying threshold by 28 votes.
During a roughly 30-minute address to the board, Pelino argued that the ballot-counting process lacked adequate public notification and transparency. Board member David Sholes was unconvinced. “These are more arguments than actual evidence, there’s no evidence,” he told Pelino directly.
Board legal counsel Ray Marcaccio pushed back on the transparency claim, stating that the counting process is open to the public and to candidate representatives, and that it is each candidate’s responsibility to participate from start to finish. Chairwoman Jennie Johnson added that information about the tabulation process is publicly available.
Guckian, 50, of East Greenwich, spoke on the State House steps Monday afternoon following the board’s decision. The board did authorize election administrators to conduct a cross-check of memory sticks from ballot machines against the final tally in the gubernatorial race.
Other Primary Races Headed for Recounts
While Pelino’s request was denied, the board approved recount activity in two Providence City Council Democratic primaries. In the Ward 9 race — covering south Elmwood, Elmwood, and Roger Williams Park — Juan Pichardo leads Carmen Castillo by just nine votes, well within the recount threshold. The board authorized a full manual recount there.
In the Ward 4 race, representing the Charles and Wanskuck neighborhoods, Justin Roias leads Joseph Casoli by 55 votes. Because the qualifying margin for that contest is 29 votes, a full recount was not authorized; instead, the board approved a rereading of memory sticks from the ballot machines.
All recount and memory stick rereading activity is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to wrap up by noon. The board plans to certify final results from all state primary races at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Three board members — Louis DeSimone, Randy Jackvony, and Michael Connors — were absent from Monday’s meeting. The outcome of primary races can carry downstream consequences for district representation and electoral maps, particularly in closely contested contests like Ward 9.