The results of the state House Democratic primary in Hamden flipped by a slim margin in favor of town council member Laurie Sweet Tuesday after officials realized a batch of ballots had gone uncounted on election night.

The ballots were discovered during a recount triggered by a two-vote margin of victory recorded last week for Sweet’s opponent, Jennifer Pope, the party-endorsed candidate for the 91st House of Representatives District seat.

Sweet is a member of the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America and had an endorsement from the Working Families Party.

On election night, it initially looked like Sweet had won the race. Pope conceded, and Sweet gave an acceptance speech to supporters on Aug. 13. But then official results showed Pope ahead by two votes.

But during the recount, the additional ballots were discovered and the final results showed that Sweet won 947 to 932.

“There were ballots that were not initially counted, and they were counted in the recount, which is what is the purpose of the recount is to ensure that we count all ballots,” said Lushonda Howard, Democratic registrar of voters for the town of Hamden, said on Wednesday. “So that all ballots were counted. And that’s what we did yesterday.”

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Howard declined to get into specifics of how ballots went uncounted.

But candidates said they’d been told that there was a set of ballots from one district that needed to be hand counted and weren’t included in the initial voting totals. The New Haven Register reported that a polling location in southern Hamden had run out of ballots and gave photocopies to voters. Those couldn’t be fed through a machine.

“I am confident that that [accurate count] was accomplished yesterday in the recount and I am really grateful to our registrars of voters for their help in this process,” Sweet said.

Pope said she and her team are still deciding whether they want to file court action to protest the results.

Rep. Michael D’Agostino, D-Hamden, held the seat for more than a decade previously and announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t seek reelection.

The Hamden district leans heavily Democrat. Pope had party establishment endorsements from D’Agostino, Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Martin Looney, D-New Haven, Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett and a handful of other Democrats in the General Assembly.

Sweet had support from tenant and labor unions, the Connecticut Young Democrats and Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven.

“A number of people-powered organizations were able to recognize that I had the legislative experience going into this,” Sweet said Wednesday.

She’s prioritized housing issues, tenants rights and environmental justice in her campaign. She said housing is her top priority going into the 2025 session.

Pope said she had focused through her campaign on equitable funding for education, tax equity and affordability for the middle class.

“Obviously I’m disappointed that I didn’t come out ahead yesterday, but I appreciate the support of my team and my family and all of the voters who came out to vote,” Pope said Wednesday.