New London —The only thing certain about the Riverside Park vote Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. was that there will be a recount.

Although absentee ballots were still being counted at this time, the city's registrar said the vote tally thus far is so close -- 1,906 for the sale of the park to the Coast Guard; 1,945 against the sale -- that a recount is assured.

Meanwhile, earlier in the evening, there was confusion among a number of voters about where the question was on the ballot.

The question was right at the top of the ballot, but several voters interviewed Tuesday evening reported there was a bit of "Where's Waldo" in finding it there.

Three of 30 voters interviewed as they were coming out of the polls at Harbor School said they couldn't locate the question.

Laurie Radcliffe said he was one of them.

"I did not see it. I thought it would be in the body of the sheet, just like the others," he said. "That's not right. And I did look for that question."

Raeshima Fisher said she saw it but almost missed it.

"I didn't realize it till I was going over it, and then I was like 'Oh!'" Fisher said. "I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people don't see it because I almost missed it."

Several people had the same story as Fisher. They knew the question had to be on the ballot somewhere, but had trouble finding it because it was at the top of the ballot, hiding in plain sight.

But it seemed that those who felt strongly about the question and were particularly determined to cast their vote on it made the effort to find it.

Whether that difficulty would have any impact on the outcome of the referendum is impossible to say, but it seemed likely that, in the end, there will be more votes cast for mayor than on the referendum.

k.robinson@theday.com