NAHANT — Eugene Canty will keep his seat on Nahant’s Board of Selectmen following Tuesday’s election recount.
Canty, who had been campaigning neck and neck with competitor David Walsh since May, was declared the winner of the vacant seat by a mere three votes (657 to 654) after Town Election election results were announced June 20.
On Tuesday, the numbers were updated to 658 to 653.
“I had a great crew and a great support team,” said Canty, who was sworn in June 23 during a ceremony at Nahant Town Hall. “These guys couldn’t have been any better, and I think that’s what made the difference. Those five votes were just that extra push.”
In a statement provided to the Item, Walsh congratulated his opponent while still addressing issues at the heart of his campaign, including Northeastern University’s controversial expansion project on East Point.
Both candidates have repeatedly expressed strong views on the matter.
“The battle with Northeastern University will go on for years, hopefully not on the taxpayers’ dime. I am sure the majority of voters in this town would like to see any questions regarding spending money versus NU on a ballot vote,” he said, adding: “I would like to thank the people who came out to vote for me and those who assisted in working for my campaign.
“The issues that I ran on have not diminished and will need to be addressed soon, (and) I look forward to representing those who voted for me in further discussions.”
Canty campaign assistant Michelle Capano said the recount — one of the only ones in recent memory — was a unique and interesting experience for small-town Nahant.
“Not having gone through this before, you read in the newspaper and you hear about the recounts last year in Boston that were off by one vote, and now you’re actually living it in your own community,” she said. “It was definitely a really, really good experience to go through.”
To conduct the recount, the town brought in town clerks as helpers from other communities.
They first did a review of the ballots, breaking them up into blocks of 50 that included the selectmen votes to ensure all 1,382 votes were accounted for. Once that was complete, the 50-ballot blocks were distributed to four separate tables of helpers, each of which included a reader and a writer.
The helpers then manually counted each ballot and submitted the tally sheet and a block numbered envelope to a single tally-taker. The tally taker consolidated the block folders onto a single tally sheet, which was counted by two different helpers and submitted to the Board of Registrars, who confirmed the final outcome.
“It was a well-executed process,” Capano said. “For those of us who were involved and have been involved, either in the campaign or observing the process, We’ve been really seeing this through.”
She added that it was a relief to finally see an end to the particularly long campaign season, which was extended by nearly two months due to COVID-19.
“Now we can move forward. We have a candidate elect and he’s sitting in his seat, so it’s definitely a good thing to happen,” she said.