Havre de Grace election canvass shows three incumbents still winners

Results of this year's Havre de Grace City Council race remained unchanged after a count of 14 absentee and provisional ballots Thursday.

Incumbent council president Steve Gamatoria and council members Dave Glenn and Michael Hitchings were the top three vote getters out of a field of seven candidates when the unofficial results were announced after the polls closed Tuesday, Election Day.

Two ballot questions, authorizing the city to borrow up to $4.5 million to upgrade the municipal water treatment plant and complete renovations of the Havre de Grace Opera House, were also approved by voters with wide margins.

Elections officials are making the results of Thursday's canvass the official vote totals for the election, although a second canvass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday to accommodate any overseas ballots that have not come back yet, according to Vanessa Graham, elections IT specialist for the Harford County Board of Elections.

Graham said Friday that all of the absentee ballots sent to Havre de Grace voters have been returned, but the final canvass is still scheduled for Monday just in case.

The official election results, in order of finish:

City Council:

David Glenn.................846

Stephen Gamatoria.....781

Michael Hitchings.......730

Jason Robertson..........715

Johnny Boker...............574

John Correri Jr.............411

Robert Robinson..........177

Question A:

Yes..........................1,202

No..............................345

Question B:

Yes.........................1,055

No..............................496

Elections officials recorded 1,557 ballots cast on Election Day, and with 14 absentee and provisional ballots, that brings the total turnout to 1,571, or 16.88 percent, according to a county Board of Elections report.

Six of the seven candidates picked up additional votes, although none of the bottom four finishers picked up enough to change their rankings. Candidate Robert Robinson, who made a previous unsuccessful run for the city council in 2014, finished last with 177 votes, and his total did not change after the canvass.

Glenn was the top vote getter, and his total increased from 837 to 846. Second place-finisher Gamatoria went from 773 to 781 votes, and Hitchings, the third-place finisher, saw his total increase from 722 to 730 votes.

Jason Robertson, who was making his first run for elected office, remained in fourth place, with his vote total increasing from 712 to 715, leaving a 15-vote gap between him and Hitchings.

Johnny Boker, who made an unsuccessful run for council in 2015 and finished in fifth place this year, picked up two more votes, increasing his total from 572 to 574. John Correri Jr., a veteran council member, council president and mayor who was defeated in a re-election bid last year, saw his vote total grow from 403 to 411.

Correri finished in sixth place this year.

The final vote count on Question A, which gives the city authority to sell up to $2.4 million in bonds to improve the water treatment plant, was 1,202 "yes" votes and 345 "no" votes, an increase of nine and five votes, respectively.

The final votes on Question B, a $2.1 million bond for the historic Opera House, was approved with 1,055 "yes" votes and 496 "no" votes, an increase of seven votes on both sides.