A hand recount of the ballots from last month’s special election garnered Cathy Ann Stacey one extra vote, allowing her to retain her spot on the nine-member Charter Commission.

Rival candidate Pamela Berry, who challenged the election results after losing the ninth open seat on the commission to Stacey by a single vote, failed to pick up any new votes during the two hour recount at Town Hall on June 1.

The initial results from the May 19 special election left Stacey with 233 votes to Berry’s 232 out of 828 ballots cast by residents. On hand to observe the recount along with a number of volunteers, Stacey described the process as nerve-wracking, but said she was happy to have the matter settled.

“It was a win-win situation,” she said. “The quicker we get seated and working the better.”

Berry, a member of the school board, could not be reached for comment.

Roughly 25 poll workers volunteered their time to administer the recount, which was based on the procedures outlined by Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlon, according to Town Moderator Chris Goodnow.

Though a few ballots were discarded, Goodnow said that the recount did not have an impact on any of the candidates elected to the commission.

A single ballot was challenged by one of the observers at the recount, but all of the parties involved were satisfied by the Board of Recount’s ruling, according to Goodnow.

He praised the outcome as a validation of the town’s election process. With the recount now finished, he said the election results were settled and could not be challenged further by any of the candidates.

Now town officials can begin planning for the commission’s first meeting, likely sometime early next week, according to Town Clerk Susan Wall.

Out of the 25 candidates that ran for one of the nine seats on the commission, many elected by voters have ties to the municipal government, including three selectmen, a member of the Budget Committee, a member of the Planning Board, the fire chief and the deputy police chief.

Voters gave town officials the approval to move ahead with the Charter Commission at the March Town Meeting. The members of the commission are tasked with studying ways to make the municipal government run more efficiently. Though recommendations made by the commission will ultimately go before voters for approval, the nine-member panel could pave the way for the adoption of a different form of municipal government.

Selectmen began moving toward the creation of a commission last fall after members of the now-defunct Charter Reform Committee, following a six-month study, told the board that the current town charter limited options for solutions to improve efficiency in the municipal government.