Salem Pays $100,000 For Recount Trial

SALEM, MA — The city spent $100,000 to defend against a lawsuit challenging the Ward 6 City Council election. That's double the Salem legal departments annual budget of $50,000 for out-of-department expenses. And while Jerry Ryan, the candidate who lost the one-vote election and filed the lawsuit, has said he will not appeal the Lawrence Superior Court ruling on the election's outcome, he does plan to file an appeal to challenge the city's requirement for some voters to show photo identification at the polls.

According to the Salem News, which first reported this story, Ward 6 Councilor Megan Riccardi spent $2,000 in legal fees for a recount and $12,000 for the trial, in which she was also named a defendant.Ryan said he has not received a bill yet but has set aside $11,000 of his own money and $3,000 from his campaign for the expected costs.