The Annapolis Board of Canvassers will do a full hand-count audit of every ballot cast in the Sept. 16 Democratic primary election after an error switched the two Ward 6 candidates’ unofficial in-person vote tallies — so the leader appeared to be losing.
For a week, Craig Cussimanio, a current stay-at-home dad who moved back to the city in 2020, was believed to be well ahead of Diesha Contee, an Eastport and Annapolis Gardens community impact specialist for Charting Careers. The incorrect tallies of in-person voting showed Cussimanio in the lead with 112 votes against 69 votes for Contee, with more than 100 mail-in votes not yet counted.
The error was announced Tuesday, a week after the unofficial results were released, when the official totals, including mail-in and provisional ballot counts, were sent out by city officials.
Contee won the Democratic primary with 185 votes while Cussimanio had 124 total votes. The corrected in-person votes for Contee were 112 votes and 69 for Cussimanio.
“While the certification process worked as intended and the correct outcome was reported, we believe a full hand count audit will provide additional assurance to voters and demonstrate our commitment to transparency and accuracy,” Eileen Leahy, the chair of the city Board of Canvassers, said in a news release issued Wednesday.
The transcription error occurred when Anne Arundel County Board of Elections staff entered the vote tallies in a spreadsheet on election night, placing the vote totals into the wrong Ward 6 candidates’ rows, according to a news release from County Executive Steuart Pittman.
Pittman said he supports the decision for a full audit, adding that the “checks and balances built into the process worked” in identifying last week’s error.
The audit will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, the release said, to verify that the certified results match the original voter-marked paper ballots for in-person votes, mailed ballots and ballots placed in drop boxes.
There will be additional safeguards put in place for the city’s general election, the release said, including “on-site verification of results at the County facility on election night, immediate tape audits by election judges, and more robust checks before releasing unofficial results.”
Cussimanio said he wasn’t officially told that an error had been made until 3:15 p.m. Tuesday through a call from the Supervisors of Elections’ office, two hours after the count of mail-in and provisional ballots was completed and the official correct election results were released.
Cussimanio did not comment directly for this story, but did provide a statement: “Congratulations to Diesha Contee on her election as the Democratic candidate for Alderwoman of Ward 6. While the initial incorrect reporting of in-person voting totals was certainly unfortunate, it should not take away from her victory. I wish her all the best in the general election.”
Current Ward 6 Alderman DaJuan Gay, who did not run for reelection, told the Capital Gazette that he worries the error could cause the public to doubt results in city elections. He said there needs to be some training on the city’s behalf to ensure that mistakes like this one don’t happen again, but that there is no need for anyone involved to be punished.
Gay said his focus when he heard about the error Tuesday was on the emotional toll the error may have taken on the candidates.
“I just can’t imagine being in their shoes,” Gay said. “I feel terrible for everybody, because this is such a complete 180 [-degree turn]. I know it’s heartbreak all around, and I feel for Craig. I really do.”
Contee, the winner of the Democratic primary, said for the week following the incorrect unofficial in-person results, she was disappointed and sad that she wouldn’t be able to advocate for the people in the community she lives and works with.
The Democratic nominee, who also works with the Eastport United Methodist Church, said the updated results let her know that other people are paying attention to the work she already does representing them.
“It just shows that they have enough trust in me that I’ll be able to get it done for them,” Contee said.
Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.
