WALLINGFORD, Conn. — A recount is underway in Wallingford and Cheshire to determine the winner in Connecticut’s 90th House District race.
Incumbent State Rep. Craig Fishbein is facing democratic challenger Jim Jinks.
Jinks originally declared victory in the race, but according to Wallingford Town Clerk Barbara Thompson, a mistake was discovered in the election management system, and once that mistake was fixed, it flipped the results putting Fishbein in the lead.
Thompson says votes that were cast for this race at Wallingford’s District 7 polling place at Mary G. Fritz Elementary School were not originally recorded in the election management system.
“I don’t know if it’s a computer glitch with the election management system or was it clerical error,” said Thompson.
The updated numbers now put Fishbein ahead by just 21 votes, triggering an automatic recount.
“We have three polling places, districts 7, 8, and 9. We’re taking out all the ballots for 7, 8, 9 plus all the absentee ballots. There’s a team of 20 people: Republicans and Democrats. Each will put an ‘I’ on the ballot to make sure its been marked properly before going into the machine,” said Thompson.
And as for what happens when the recount is finished: “We will amend in the election management system when it is reported, but tapes will be run like normally on election night and we will read off those tapes the results.”