The Rhode Island Supreme Court has denied challenger Carlos Tobon’s bid for a manual recount of the Pawtucket House race he lost by one-vote, after four ballot counts produced four different results. In a 3-to-2 decision Friday, the high court said the state Board of Elections had already provided to Tobon – who lost to longtime state Rep. William San Bento 544 to 543 – all of the relief the law requires, including a “manual re-feeding of ballots” into the voting machines and “a manual recount of those ballots rejected by the machine.” Read the decision: Carlos Tobon v. Rhode Island Board of Elections et al. No. 2012-289-M.P. (Order).pdf
“Any further relief would contradict both the express mandate of the legislature and prior orders of this Court. Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is hereby denied.” Justices Paul Suttell and Maureen McKenna Goldberg filed dissents.
Read the decision: Carlos Tobon v. Rhode Island Board of Elections et al. No. 2012-289-M.P. (Order).pdf