Sharon Terry, owner of Scarborough Downs, on Friday requested a recount of the Nov. 4 vote that shot down slot machines at her track, according to Downs attorney Edward MacColl.

The Downs filed the request on Friday and expects the recount results within the next few weeks, MacColl said.

“Given the importance of the matter to the harness-racing industry and to the town of Scarborough, Mrs. Terry decided it was worth the effort to be recounted,” he said.

The proposal to develop 535 acres owned by the track lost by just 239 votes, 5,565-5,804, in an election that drew a record number to the polls. The vote had a cliffhanger ending: Because a ballot machine malfunctioned, results were not available until the day after Election Day.

MacColl and racino project developer Gene Beaudoin inspected the ballots Monday after Scarborough resident Karen Vachon last week submitted a 100-signature petition requesting the inspection, said Scarborough Town Clerk Tody Justice.

The inspection revealed that while the Election Day results went against the proposal, the absentee ballots showed that the results might be in favor of the proposal because several ballots that were reprocessed on election night read that no vote was taken, MacColl said.

“That piqued our interest,” he said.

The Nov. 4 vote was the second defeat for slot machines in Scarborough. The loss has fueled speculation that the harness-racing track’s owner might look to relocate.

MacColl and Downs officials have been tight-lipped about what the Downs’ future holds.

“We are weighing our options,” MacColl said in a telephone interview last week. “That’s all I can say at this point, but they’re not ruling anything out.”

Downs officials had proposed adding slots to the track as part of a $200 million commercial and residential development that would give the town a center and $8 million in annual revenues.

Pitched by Beaudoin, the Connecticut developer who was instrumental in bringing a Cabela’s outdoor sporting goods store to town, the proposal had the backing of Penn National Gaming Inc., which spent more than $60,000 on a campaign in support of the project.

After the vote, however, Beaudoin was unequivocal. “It’s not dead in the water, it’s dead,” he said.

A law passed by statewide referendum in 2003 allows slot machines at existing harness-racing tracks with local approval, leading to Hollywood Slots at the state’s other harness-racing track in Bangor. Scarborough Downs, however, has found it much more difficult to win approval in southern Maine. Saco and Westbrook have also rejected proposals to allow slot machines associated with the Downs.

Voters exiting the polls Nov. 4 cited arguments made throughout the campaign on both sides of the issue. Proponents pointed to tax revenues a slots parlor could bring to town for capital improvements or tax relief. Opponents feared social costs such as possible surges in crime and traffic associated with larger-scale gambling.

Another touted benefit was a racino’s ability to boost the struggling southern Maine harness-racing business, which has been subsidized at the Downs by Terry and her daughter, Denise Terry.