In addition, Alliance transfer votes were spread among a variety of candidates, including Davis and others endorsed by the CCA.

"The Alliance people still don't know how to vote the slate," Colbert said.

Colbert added that personal disagreements with Galluccio resulting from Galluccio's appointment to fill a vacancy on the council last year also "hurt McSweeney terribly."

What's Next?

At its first meeting in January, the newly-elected council will choose one councillor to serve as mayor and ex-officio chair of the school committee for the next two years.

Reeves has said he will seek an unprecedented third term as mayor, but Duehay and Russell said they also are interested in the position.

"It's time for a woman in there," said Russell, a 10-year council veteran.

The final tally of votes at Longfellow School coincided with a national conference in Boston held to discuss the merits of proportional voting.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (DGa.), who has introduced legislation which would modify a 1967 federal statute and permit the use of such balloting in congressional races across the nation, observed the vote count Saturday night.

"Proportional voting encourages increased voter turnout because people have more at stake in the outcome," McKinney said in an interview with The Crimson. "It improves the opportunity of women and minorities, and it does it in a way that does not inflame Southern racial animosity as we've experienced in the past."

McSweeney, however, has filed a lawsuit asking the Massachusetts Supreme Court to rule the procedure unconstitutional because it violates the provisions of "one man, one vote."

The courts are expected to rule on the case sometime in December, according to McSweeney