As the recount stops, Galvin declares "valid election" in the third district primary

Trahan will face Rick Green, a Republican leader from Pepperell and the auto parts company, and Mike Mullen, Maynard's independent candidate and IT director, in November.

The Koh concession ends a chaotic primary to 10 Democrats whose results were still being finalized nearly two weeks after the election of voters.

Trahan, who has already been one of the principal assistants to former Congressman Martin T. Meehan, declared victory on election night and the following days, saying that she was confident of having a sufficient lead over Koh. But given the uncertainties surrounding the certified results, both campaigns collected signatures to force a potential recount, Koh having finally submitted the request last Monday.

A recount of five days took place in the 37 towns of the district, during which local elected officials counted nearly 89 000 ballots. At Lawrence and Lowell, the officials finished the count under the direct supervision of Galvin's office.

Koh had seized problems Galvin had raised at Lowell, where his lawyer said the campaign was "gravely concerned about the credibility of the campaign. . . election result. "

Last week, Galvin declared that he was taking control of Lowell's electoral departments – as well as Lawrence, where he was citing personnel problems – saying that there had been administrative errors in the way that Lowell had dealt with the elections of September 4th. Officials found that "a significant number of polling stations did not match or had missing information," Galvin said.

Last week, Koh sent a letter to Galvin asking him to suspend the recount in Lowell, Trahan's hometown and in the municipality where she had received the most votes, until the secretary finished an investigation.

Galvin rejected the request, calling it "very obvious that the Koh campaign is trying to lay the groundwork for an election challenge."

In the end, Trahan won 72 votes – and Koh added 27 – in the city after Sunday's recount.

"The fact that both competitors have at this stage obtained votes in many communities, including Lowell, suggests the accuracy and fairness of the process," Galvin said Monday. "It's exactly what it should have been."

Galvin had said earlier Monday that the process of recounting 89,000 ballots had worked well as planned. Many cities had little, if any, differences, and those that he said included largely blank ballots that were counted for a candidate after further inspection.

"Obviously we think this election was a valid election," said Galvin. "I think that the evidence, reviewed by all the candidates and their representatives and local officials, strongly suggests that all the ballots that were cast were properly cast and properly counted."

The Brighton Democrat said the problems at Lowell were "administrative problems. They did not talk about voters.

"Their record keeping was no longer the problem," he said.

Throughout the process, Trahan sought to focus on general elections, organizing a "Women for Lori" event before the start of the recount.

Meanwhile, Green, who has not faced a primary challenger, launched a blazing advertising campaign last week, promising to better fund infrastructure in the region. The 47-year-old also focused on his professional experience – he co-founded 1A Auto, an auto parts company – and promised in a recent video campaign that he would "revive the economic engine" in the district.

Reach Matt Stout at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout