Manning, Rotunda apparent winners of Democratic nominations for City Council
A preliminary, unofficial count of write-in ballots for two Democratic nominations for Washington City Council shows that incumbent Joe Manning received approximately 334 votes, while Tracie Graham Rotunda received 187 and incumbent Matt Staniszewski had 170. If those numbers hold up after the official canvass of election results that would mean that Manning, who was thrown off the Democratic ballot before the election for failing to get enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions, would again be listed, along with Rotunda, who also won a Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary. Incumbent Staniszewski, who also won a Republican nomination, would appear only on that side of the ballot.
However, controversy has already developed in the write-in process, after memos from the elections office about Manning’s write-in campaign were somehow received by pollworkers at several precincts and posted on walls and tables during the voting. Attorney Sean Logue, representing a city resident, got a court order to confiscate those memos, which he said may have threatened the holding of a “free and fair” election.