Recount changes little in Dist. 42 race

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A recount in House District 42 has done very little to change the results of a tight race to succeed state Rep. Stephen Ucci.

Democrat Edward Cardillo Jr. led Republican Frank Ricci 3,510 to 3,400 votes – a margin of just 110 – heading into the GOP-requested recount. Once the votes were tabulated again, Cardillo gained two votes and Ricci lost one from his total. Cardillo’s lead now stands at 113.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t think it would change much in the recounts,” Cardillo said in a phone interview on Monday. “They didn’t change much. The machines are very accurate. Really, the machines don’t make mistakes today. Of course I feel relieved about it with the recount done.”

Ricci has vowed not to concede, however, as he sent a letter to Board of Elections Executive Director Robert Raposa requesting copies of District 42 ballots and envelopes. He said that, while those are likely “merged in with all the other RI state district envelopes,” he would also take scanned digital copies.

“District 42 constituents and my supporters have urged me to seek out this information in an effort that I might reassure them of the integrity of the 2020 election,” Ricci wrote in his letter. “For this reason, I am compelled to request this digital information as soon as possible. There is no need to separate out District 42 from the remainder of the state as I have volunteers waiting to accomplish this task as soon as I have the file.”

Ricci said that he expected to receive the copies on Monday, but he had not heard back from the Board of Elections. He said he would not concede “until we’ve completed our investigations.”

“Nothing’s changed [in the vote count] and we’re going through the voter rolls now and seeing if there are discrepancies there,” Ricci told the Sun Rise on Monday. “We’re just making sure that everything is good and that the people voted the way that they wanted to. We haven’t given up hope yet.”

Cardillo said that while Ricci has the option to continue challenging the results ahead of him, “I don’t know why he would.”

“I really have nothing else to add, except to thank all the people in my district who voted for me, and that’s about it right now,” Cardillo said.

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