In the end, after thousands of Barrington residents turned out to the polls on Election Day, after the overseas mail-in ballots were tallied, and after the Rhode Island Board of Elections completed its full recount, the race for the final open seat on the Barrington Town Council came down to 11 votes. Eleven.

Jordan Jancosek, a first-time candidate, rounded out a clean sweep of Council seats for the Barrington Democrats, edging out Independent candidate Brian Hughes for the third seat. 

Liana Cassar finished first and Kerry O’Neill finished second. Cassar, O’Neill and Jancosek ran as endorsed Democrats. Hughes was one of three Independents running for Council. 

For more than a week it appeared that Hughes had won the third and final Council seat. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 13, a full eight days after the Nov. 5 Election Day, the Rhode Island Board of Elections website had Hughes leading Jancosek for the third spot on the Council. The Board of Elections website had Hughes with 4,427 votes and Jancosek with 4,417 votes. 

But on Wednesday night at 8:45 p.m., the Board of Elections website was updated. The newest tally placed Jancosek in third place with 4,447 votes and Independent Brian Hughes in fourth place with 4,438 votes. 

Barrington Town Clerk Merrie DeSisto confirmed that the vote count had shifted. In an email to the Barrington Times on Thursday morning, Nov. 14, DeSisto wrote: “I was told that additional military and overseas ballots came in by November 12th and I had 4 manual count ballots that were processed.”

The late change dropped Hughes into a predicament: the seven-day deadline to request a recount (following Election Day) had already passed. 

At about 9:05 a.m. on Thursday morning, Nov. 14, Hughes received a phone call from an official with the RI Board of Elections. That official told Hughes that he would not be able to request a recount. The official also told Hughes that the RI Board of Elections was holding a meeting that morning at 9:15 a.m. to discuss the recounts. 

Hughes jumped in his truck and drove to the RI Board of Elections headquarters in Cranston. Once he arrived, Hughes listened as an attorney for the RI Board of Elections explained that only the candidate who is trailing in the results can request a recount, but that the seven-day deadline had already passed.

Hughes countered — he said he had been leading the race up until Wednesday night, Nov. 13, which was a day after the deadline had passed. It would have been impossible for him to request a recount, he said. 

RI Board of Elections Chairwoman Jennifer Johnson said officials needed to look into rectifying the situation through legislation in the upcoming year. They called it a shortcoming in the statute.

However, Jancosek had earlier filed a request for a recount — she had made the request shortly after Election Day. Officials, working off Jancosek’s previous request, voted unanimously to complete a recount in the Barrington Town Council election results. Jancosek could have withdrawn her request for the recount, but she opted to let it proceed as planned. 

On Friday morning, Nov. 15, the Board of Elections conducted its recount. Hughes’s vote tally went from 4,438 to 4,442, while Jancosek’s vote-count went from 4,447 to 4,453, giving her an 11-vote victory.

Jancosek said Election Day and the week-plus that followed was a roller coaster, adding that she was confident that Barrington would be getting a great candidate no matter who won. 

“First and foremost I am absolutely thrilled to get the chance to work for the town of Barrington and to work for the residents of Barrington,” Jancosek said during an interview on Monday, Nov. 18.

Jancosek said the Rhode Island Board of Elections reached out to her last week after the vote count shifted in her favor and asked if she wanted to rescind her request for a recount. Jancosek said she decided not to rescind the request “because I felt that this needed to be fair for all of the candidates.” 

She said the Barrington Council race exposed a flaw in the election system. 

“I hope the Board of Elections takes a hard look at this,” she said. 

Jancosek said she is excited to begin her work on the Barrington Town Council, and mentioned two of her top priorities: safe streets and climate resiliency. 

The swearing in ceremony for the new Town Council members will be held early next month. 

Vote totals — recount final

• Jordan Jancosek (D): 4,453 votes

• Brian Hughes (I): 4,442 votes