Koh Picks Up Four Votes In Lawrence, Andover Recounts

LAWRENCE, MA -- Despite ongoing recovery efforts from a series of gas explosions Thursday, officials in Lawrence proceeded with a recount of ballots cast in the Sept.4 Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District. That recount allowed Dan Koh, of Andover, to trim Lori Trahan's lead in the race by one vote to a margin of 121 votes. Koh also picked up three votes in Saturday's recount Andover, also still recovering from Thursday's explosions, trimming Trahan's margin to 118.

The last remaining large city, Lowell, was scheduled to begin its recount Sunday. The recount of 89,000 votes cast in 37 communities needs to be completed by Monday.

Koh was dealt a setback Thursday in the ongoing saga to determine a winner of the primary that featured 10 candidates when Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said the recount of votes in Lowell would proceed as scheduled on Sunday. Koh, of Andover, had wanted the recount delayed until after the completion of an investigation of Lowell's election process.

The winner will face Republican Rick Green of Pepperell and unaffiliated candidate Mike Mullen of Maynard in the general election in November to replace Rep. Nikki Tsongas (D-Lowell).

In a letter to Galvin, Koh's campaign questioned the integrity of the voting process in Lowell, including extreme heat that cause many of Lowell's 20-year-old voting machines to fail on the day of the primary. The letter also claimed Lowell election officials violated state law in securing ballots and that there were discrepancies between the number of ballots and the check-ins at polling places in several precincts.

Galvin's office oversaw the recount in Lawrence and will oversee Sunday's recount in Lowell. Last week his office took direct control of the election offices in Lawrence and Lowell because of inexperienced election staff in Lawrence and errors in the processing of ballots and the tallying of state primary results in Lowell.

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Patch file photo via Shutterstock.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).