Race for that last at-large council seat now even closer

By adamg on Wed, 11/13/2019 - 11:26pm

The latest unofficial city election results now show just five votes separate Julia Mejia and Alejandra St. Guillen for the fourth at-large seat on the city council. Both campaigns have been collecting signatures for a recount of what, on election night, seemed to be a ten-vote election win for Mejia.

H/t James W. Hills.

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Alejandra St. Guillen

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Comments

Should be an automatic recount

By anon on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 8:33am.

Any time the margin is such a small fraction of the total number, the recount should be automatic by statue. The petition process for such a no brainier situation is absurd. Just get to it.

How is a margin of victory that small

By erik g on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 10:39am.

not grounds for an automatic recount? Anything less than 1% seems like it ought to trigger one without any work by either candidate.

A lot of work and unexpected expense

By Rob K. on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 11:06am.

I appreciate how positive Julia Mejia has been about this, but it is a huge and unexpected expense and additional work.
If you want to support the recount, you can donate here: https://www.juliaforboston.com/

We've been through this at least twice in Somerville

By Ron Newman on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 9:23am.

Like Boston, Somerville elects four city council members (until recently still called "aldermen") at-large, while electing others from districts.

Twice in my memory, in 1999 and 2007, we've had manual recounts because of razor-thin margins between the fourth-place winner and the fifth-place loser. The 1999 race was finally decided by a court, which ruled that Bill White had won fourth place by one vote.

Secretary Galvin's official guide to recounts

By Ron Newman on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 9:28am.

This publication, Election Recounts, explains what happens next.