City Councilman Marcus Brown greets voters outside of Blackham School in Bridgeport, Conn. Aug. 9, 2022. Brown challenged incumbent State Rep. Jack Hennessy in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for 127th house seat.

BRIDGEPORT — A judge on Friday denied City Councilman Marcus Brown’s attempt to squeeze out a few more votes to add to his two-vote win in a second recount of the Democratic primary for the 127th House District.

Following a hearing, Superior Court Judge Barry Stevens turned down Brown’s request to add four votes to his tally that had either been disqualified or registered for his opponent, incumbent state Rep. Jack Hennessy.

An appeal by Hennessy of the results of the primary will be heard by the judge Tuesday afternoon. Hennessy’s lawyer, William Bloss, was given until then to refute a motion to dismiss the appeal by Deputy City Attorney John Bohannon.

Following the judge’s ruling on the four votes Brown’s campaign manager Thomas Gaudett said they were satisfied with the judge’s opinion and believe the final count, giving Brown the win, should be allowed to stand.

But Hennessy’s campaign manager, city Councilwoman Maria Pereira called it “hypocrisy” that Brown would contest four votes after criticizing Hennessy’s challenge.

Following a second recount Monday night, Brown was declared the winner by a vote of 573 to 571.

The first recount was triggered when the initial vote count on Aug. 9 showed Brown, 31, holding a narrow five-vote lead — 579 to 574 — over Hennessy, 71. In that recount, election officials named Hennessy, a nine-term lawmaker and former truck driver, the winner with 567 votes while Brown received 566.

Brown then filed an appeal in Superior Court claiming that city election officials improperly lost possession of numerous absentee ballots; improperly allowed absentee ballots to co-mingle so that an improper count was made during the recount canvass; used a defective machine tabulator and certified the results of the recount while acknowledging the absence of at least nine absentee ballots.

Both sides then arrived at a settlement before Stevens to have a second recount, this one to be done by hand before new moderators.

During the second recount the nine missing absentee ballots were found in a sealed bag for another voting district.

During Friday’s hearing, Brown’s lawyer, John Kennelly, questioned Jowanne Burks, the moderator of the second recount, regarding four votes that had been rejected by the voting machine during the Aug. 9 primary.

Burks said she could only state that three of the ballots were rejected as “spoiled.” However, with the fourth paper ballot, which had marks in the bubbles for both Brown and Hennessy, Burks said she made the call that it was a vote for Hennessy.

Under questioning from Bloss, Burks said she believed the mark on Brown’s bubble was a hesitation or stray mark.

Daniel Tepfer has been reporting on legal issues and covering criminal cases for many years.