Steven Contente increased his lead over Tony Teixeira after absentee ballots were counted, but the race for Town Administrator won't end until Monday.

The state Board of Elections counted the 934 absentee ballots Thursday evening, resulting in a 34-vote lead for Mr. Contente (4,853 - 4,819). Before the absentee count, Mr. Contente led by just 23 votes.

However, the race is still not final, as provisional ballots have yet to be counted, Town Clerk Lou Cirillo said Friday morning. The Board of Elections is scheduled to count 51 provisional ballots and four outstanding regular ballots that were not automatically counted by voting machines due to technical errors. Mathematically, Mr. Teixeira still has a chance to reclaim the vote lead.

Provisional ballots are those that could not be entered into voting machines at the polling locations on Election Day for various reasons. Perhaps a voter did not have a photo ID, or a voter's last name changed due to a marriage. Voters are still able to cast their ballots, but their identities must be confirmed later and their votes counted manually at the Board of Elections Providence office, Mr. Cirillo explained.

Mr. Contente declined to comment on the on-going race Friday morning, other than to say he is "cautiously optimistic," and would have more to say Monday after the provisional votes are recorded.

Even then, the contest could continue if an appeal is filed. Either candidate has until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, to request a full recount of the vote.