Newton Ward 4 Write-In Recount Results: 7 Vote Difference

NEWTON, MA — The results are in - again. But it turns out the race for Ward 4 city councilor was a bit closer than the original count showed.

Saturday, after hours of hand recounting at Newton North High School, City Clerk David Olsen announced that Chris Markiewicz defeated write in candidate Allison Sharma by 7 votes for the Ward 4 city council seat.

The final tally was Markiewicz 1,125 votes, and Sharma 1,118 votes.

Sharma can still challenge the result in court.

Sharma gained 153 votes via the recount process, closing the margin to just 7 votes. Her name was physically written in on 1,189 ballots, while there were 1,125 votes for Markiewicz. However, because of the rules of the re-count some 71 of the 1,189 were not counted.

In the Nov. 7 election, Sharma’s write-in campaign efforts for the Ward 4 seat fell by 178 votes to Markiewicz, according to the city clerk’s office. But Sharma said she suspected some of her supporters may have accidentally cast their ballots in a the Ward 4 at-large councilor race that received 814 write-in votes.

Ward 4's race has been uncontested in more than a decade, which is the main reason Sharma said she jumped into the race.

Saturday evening Sharma took to Facebook to thank her supporters.

"I am grateful to everyone who participated today and to all who supported me over the last several months, and will keep you informed as the process concludes," she wrote.

It's not clear at this point if she will challenge in court.

Newton City Hall preliminary results: Results

Previously on Patch:

Newton Elections 2017: Who Won, Tight Race

Newton Elections 2017: How It Went Out There

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch