NORTH SMITHFIELD – The Board of Elections has added early votes at Town Hall to the tally from primary polling locations in the race for North Smithfield town administrator, putting the top two candidates from Tuesday night’s tally slightly further in the lead.
With 180 ballots added to the results from the 650 released Tuesday night, longtime Town Councilor Paul Zwolenski is further ahead of his opponents in the three-way race, with 361 votes.
But the question of which two candidates will compete in the General Election November 3 remains uncertain.
Town Clerk Lillian Silva Scott told NRI NOW this week that as of Friday, North Smithfield voters cast 525 mail ballots, which had not yet been added to the afternoon tally as of Wednesday, Sept. 8.
With the latest results, Councilor Douglas Osier also widened his lead over School Committee member Paul Jones – albeit slightly – with the candidates garnering 247 and 222 votes respectively.
The state received an unprecedented number of mail ballots in 2020 as voters looked to avoid potentially crowded polling places amid the pandemic. Reports have estimated that the Board of Elections would not issue a final count until Thursday, Sept. 10.
An update to this ongoing news story can be found here.
