UPDATED: Corbett Declared Winner After Recount of Watertown Town Council Election

Steve Corbett was declared the winner of the final at-large Town Council seat after the recount of the Nov. 8 election was completed Thursday, reaffirming Watertown residents' vote that gave the Town Council Vice President a narrow victory over write-in candidate Mike Mandel.

Poll workers and election observers filled the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the Watertown Free Public Library Thursday. After several hours of counting, the vote finally became official, and Mandel had picked up 2 votes. The difference was 89 votes.

"I'm feeling good. I'm glad it's concluded," Corbett said after the recount concluded at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday. "It was a long day to find out there was  a difference of two votes."

Corbett said he looks forward to serving another two years on the Town Council.

Mandel ran a two-week campaign after being — something he opposes. The margin was 91 votes between Mandel and Corbett after the votes were counted on Nov. 8.

Mandel said the vote showed his campaign made a strong statement about the potential Walmart proposal.

"Whether it was difference of 91 votes after the original count or 89 according to  the recount, the surprising thing was the number of people who voted for me — 1,358," Mandel said.

Mandel said the total could have been even closer, as 56 voters tried to vote for him, but erred when placing the sticker on the ballot or wrote his name in the incorrectly or in the wrong place.

"It all adds up to strong statement that Watertown does not want to be an off ramp for a Chinese outlet store," Mandel said.

Mandel said he does not think he will be running for office again anytime soon.

"I'm not a politician, I don’t expect to be a candidate, unless there is a need to be a candidate," Mandel said. "I don’t know if Walmart be sent packing over the next two years."

Poll workers looked over each ballot and read out the votes for each candidate on the ballot and the write-in tallies. Ocassionally a ballot would be challenged by one of the candidates' observers and discussed by the Election Commission — Bonnie Baranowski, David W. Downes, Bob MacDonald and Louis L. Fabrizio. The last recount was in 2007, Downes said, when votes for the Town Council at large race were retallied.

On one ballot, somone wrote in "Steve Corbett" but did not fill in the bubble next to his name on the printed ballot. That vote was given to Corbett. In another challenge, someone wrote in "Mike M." That vote was rejected.

Mandel said he does not quibble with the results of the recount.

"The fact that the final tally was close to original tally speaks to how well to our town conducts a fair election," Mandel said.

At-large Town Council Results After the Recount (Top 4 Elected)