Woodstock — A flurry of judicial action designed to clear up uncertainty surrounding Election Day results in two tight Vermont House has left the fates of Chelsea Republican Bob Frenier, Rep. Susan Hatch Davis, P-Washington, Royalton Republican David Ainsworth and Rep. Sarah Buxton, D-Tunbridge, in continued doubt.

After a recount in the Orange 1 district, Frenier said his eight-vote lead over Davis had been reduced to six votes, but that with only four questionable ballots still to be reviewed by a judge, he expects to join Rep. Rodney Graham, R-Williamstown, in representing the two-seat, six-town Orange 1 district, which includes Vershire, Chelsea and Corinth.

“I might face some unexpected surprise in the morning, but they don’t have much they can do at this point,” Frenier said after a recount on Monday in the Chelsea courthouse.

But Davis hasn’t conceded defeat, instead raising fresh questions about the results.

“I don’t have full confidence in them,” she said.

Davis said that certain absentee ballots — those that were not in sealed envelopes — from different towns were handled differently. Such votes cast in Orange were not included in the recount tally, while those from Williamstown were, according to Davis.

Vermont GOP Executive Director Jeff Bartley said Davis is “kind of grasping at straws,” and that the counted votes could no longer be separated from the total.

Meanwhile, during a status conference hearing on the Windsor-Orange 1 race  in the Woodstock courthouse, Superior Court Judge Robert Gerety decided he needed more evidence to rule on the contest between Buxton and Ainsworth.

Election Day tallies showed Buxton had a three-vote advantage, but a Nov. 21 recount showed that there was a 1,000–1,000 tie, with the status of two votes for Ainsworth in question.

In those two votes, the marks left by the voters grazed the edge of the bubble next to Ainsworth’s name, leaving it unclear as to whether the tabulating machine had included those votes in its count.

In an entry order issued last week, Gerety said he had not yet examined the ballots, and that whether they had been included in the machine count remained unclear.

“The county clerk was unable to certify whether the two ballots at issue were included in the total vote count on the tally sheets,” he wrote. Gerety has asked court staff to schedule a half-day hearing on an expedited schedule.

“It’s going to be for an opportunity to present evidence regarding the conduct of the recount and whether the recount was conducted in a manner consistent with statutory procedures,” Windsor Superior Court Clerk Anne Damone said.

Buxton said she had questions about the recount numbers.

“It’s important to make sure that everyone’s votes were indeed counted and I don’t think we have that confidence based on what happened last Monday,” Buxton said.

Buxton’s attorney, Willem Jewett, who also is a Democratic state representative, filed a motion with the court in which he argued “it is problematic that a uniform standard was not used by the recount teams.”

Buxton’s motion asked Gerety to order a “further hand recount with specific procedures designed to follow the statute and create the most accurate recount result possible.”

Ainsworth said he felt he would prevail, but that, if not, time is running out on a state-mandated deadline to have a new election.

“Once he’s made a final ruling, if it comes down to a tie, then it’s three weeks before we have a new election,” Ainsworth said. “So Merry Christmas.”

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.