Salem City Council Ward 4 Candidate Will Petition For Recount

SALEM, MA — Stephanie Rodriguez plans to petition for a recount in the Ward 4 City Council election in Salem.

Rodriguez told supporters that she examined the process with City Clerk Ilene Simmons late last week and that she wants the recount after unofficial results showed her nine votes shy of Lev McClain.

"Yes, I am planning on moving forward with a recount," Rodriguez said in a video post on her campaign page. "It's not about me. For the 1,700 people who came out to vote, we owe it to them just to have that confirmation."

The initial count on Tuesday showed Rodriguez just one vote shy of McClain with an 808 to 807 margin. That margin grew to nine after additional mail-in and dropbox votes were counted later in the night.

Rodriguez said in a video statement on Tuesday night she was leaning toward requesting the recount at that time.

"I'm with a recount," Rodriguez posted in a video on her Facebook page when the results showed her one vote behind Tuesday night. "I need a margin. ... I'm not losing by one. ... I lost by one vote, which is hard for me to accept. ... Emotions are high."

She said on Wednesday that remained her intention as the gap grew to 818 to 809.

"Given the margin of victory, I am looking into the process of a recount," she said in a message to supporters that day.

Rodriguez said she intends to submit her petition for the recount this week.

"It doesn't hurt," she said. "It was nine votes. I think that was definitely within the margin for error. It's just so that there's no question about it."

The Salem Board of Registrar of Voters is scheduled to meet virtually Friday afternoon "for the purpose of discussing and setting a time and place for the proposed upcoming recount of the ballots in Ward 4."

Rodriguez said she notified McClain about her intentions and stressed she does not want the recount process to be contentious. Two years ago, Salem Ward 6 City Councilor Megan Riccardi's one-vote victory withstood a recount — which was then challenged in court.

"I don't want it to be anything that divides us," Rodriguez said. "The voters deserve this. They're entitled to it."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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