By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — With a recount showing the number of ballots unchanged from what was reported on election night, Jean Philippe Barros has finally been declared the official winner of the District 5 City Council race.

According to city Registar Ken McGill, the recount that had been requested by incumbent City Councilor Mary Bray took place on Monday afternoon at the state Board of Elections office. The cartridges from the voting machines showing the regular ballots cast on Nov. 4 were recorded a second time and the reusls were the same: 1,429 ballots for Barros and 1,346 for Bray.
When the absentee and write-in ballots were also figured in, the final tally of 1,468 to 1,404 showed Barros beating Bray, the 16-year-incumbent, by 64 votes.
Barros, a 44-year-old resident of Lafayette St., expressed happiness at his first successful win for political office. “I just hope I will not disappoint the people who helped get me elected,” he stated. He had run once before four years ago for state representative in District 59, but lost out to J. Patrick O’Neill.
In a potential twist to another delayed race,  Raymond Spooner, who had sought a School Committee seat in a write-in campaign, announced on Friday that he was seeking an official recount of the write-in ballots for School Committee.
Last Monday, a tally of 53 write-in ballots that had been locked in a box with regular ballots was conducted by the Board of Canvassers, and the results showed incumbent School Committeewoman Amy Breault Zolt as the write-in winner.
She reportedly beat Spooner by 28 votes and was certified as the winner.
See BARROS, Page A-2
However, Spooner said he initially requested a recount on Nov. 13 and was told by a state Board of Elections employee that he was too late, as he had not done so within the established deadline of seven days from the general election.
In a letter sent by fax to Robert Kando, Executive Director of the state Board of Elections, Spooner said he disputes this deadline because the School Committee race had not been certified until Monday, Nov. 10.
When reached on Monday, Kando told the TIMES that he still considers Spooner to have missed the deadline, and said that he had also not complied with the rules of submitting a letter requesting a recount with a notarized signature. He said the faxed document is not acceptable.
Spooner, who said the letter had been notarized properly, said he would be re-submitting his request, and said he would also be talking to his legal counsel to see what avenues lie ahead to appeal Kando’s decision.