Boston Area News

BOSTON (CBS4) ― State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson pulled ahead of her closest challenger Thursday, after an unusual four hour count of write-in votes in eight precincts that had gone unrecorded after Tuesday's election.

Of the votes cast in those eight precincts, Wilkerson won 946, compared with 385 that went to her top rival Sonia Chang-Diaz. That gave Wilkerson a final unofficial tally in the election of 6,395 votes compared with 5,703 for Chang-Diaz, according to city election officials.

Unofficial results posted on the city of Boston's Web site after the election, but before Thursday's count, showed Wilkerson holding just a narrow 141-vote lead over Chang-Diaz.

Asked about the relatively narrow win for a long-term incumbent, Wilkerson said she was glad to come out on top.

"It doesn't bother me. I'm most satisfied ... given where we started," Wilkerson told reporters after the count, which showed her 692 votes ahead. "I'm relieved that this phase is over."

Chang-Diaz said she had received reports of voting problems across the district on election day and was still deciding whether to seek a full recount of all 73 precincts.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to make sure all votes are counted accurately, consistently and fairly," she said. "There was a lot of potential for human error."

The vote-counting error forced election officials to seek a court order to reopen ballots in the eight precincts and conduct a hand count observed by Wilkerson, D-Boston; Chang-Diaz, and a throng of reporters and television cameras.

Wilkerson was forced to mount a sticker or write-in campaign after failing to obtain the 300 signatures she needed to get her name on the primary ballot. She faced three challengers in the Second Suffolk district, Chang-Diaz, John Kelleher and Samiyah Diaz, who is also running as a Republican. After Thursday's count, Kelleher had a total 403 votes. Diaz had 302.

Her challengers entered the race too late to make the ballot, and also were forced to hand out stickers with their names printed on them or ask voters to write in their names.

Election officials said Wednesday poll workers inadvertently failed to record election results on tally sheets in eight of 73 precincts in the district before sealing them.

State Secretary William Galvin attributed the problem to "the unprecedented write-in efforts in that district primary," and said the poll workers had committed a "good faith clerical error."

The vote-counting glitch is just the latest twist in the turbulent career of Wilkerson, the only black state senator on Beacon Hill.

Wilkerson in 1997 pleaded guilty to failing to file tax returns from 1991 to 1994. She was sentenced to house arrest, then sent to a halfway house for 30 days by a federal judge after twice breaking a court-ordered 9 p.m. curfew.

She is facing a campaign finance lawsuit filed by the state attorney general alleging she failed to report nearly $27,000 in donations and refused to explain more than $18,000 in personal reimbursements.

Prosecutors were also reportedly considering perjury charges against Wilkerson in connection with testimony in her nephew's manslaughter conviction appeal.

During an interview on WBZ Radio Wednesday, Wilkerson said she was confident that she would remain the winner.

"I think it's just putting off another day what I believe is going to be the inevitable," Wilkerson said.

Melissa Threadgill, a spokeswoman for Chang-Diaz, said the campaign had been considering calling for a recount before the uncounted votes were discovered.

"If there are uncounted votes as the secretary of state's office said, they should be counted," Threadgill said. "We've said all along that every vote should be counted."

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)