Huckleberries Online

City Clerk Explains Possible Recount

Posted by DFO

Nov. 4, 2009 12:03 p.m. • 20 comments

City Clerk Susan Weathers discusses w/Huckleberries Online the possibility of a recount in the Mike Kennedy/Jim Brannon race:

A recount is not mandatory for a city election. Jim Brannon hasn’t asked for a recount yet. I’ve been trying to get ahold of him. He’s not calling me back. I wanted to give him his options. Since it is within 1/10th of 1 percent, the defeated candidate can request a recount at no cost to him. It will cost the city — Susan Weathers. Full discussion here.

Q — How does the process begin?

SW: The process starts with the canvass of votes. From the day of the vote canvass (the council set that for Nov. 9 but county elections official Deedie Beard said she can speed up the process for tomorrow. I want Jim Brannon to see if that’s his wish). After council canvasses votes, Jim has 20 days to request a recount from the attorney general. Then, the attorney general review his request. If he thinks if has merit, he will issue an order of recount. State statute doesn’t give a time limit for the attorney general to review a request. But I’ve been assured by the secretary of state’s office that the attorney general’s office is aware of the sensitive nature of these requests and tries to expedite them. This won’t drag on for months. They have two attorneys in AG’s office that deals specifically with recounts.

Q — What then?

SW: Once the order is issued by AG’s office, the actual recount has to take place in 10 days. At that point the attorney general and the secretary of state oversee the recount. They come up and the city covers the expense.

Q — Does Dan Gookin get the same options in his narrow loss?

SW — If Dan Gookin requests a recount in his 29-vote loss, he’d have to foot the bill because it falls outside the margin of 1/10th of 1 percent.

20 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

nic on November 04 at 11:34 a.m.
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of him. He’s not calling me back.” Shocking.

“It will cost the city.” Is this what they really want? After campaining against the incumbents as a bunch of wasteful spenders… after saying the city needs to trim the bugent… after condemning the spend spend spend mindset… do they really want to take actions that would “cost the city”?
spokelooneh on November 04 at 11:50 a.m.
Seems to me 5 votes could be within the margin of error. Would need to know the number of undervotes and overvotes for this race and compare it to the other council races.
Cabbage Boy on November 04 at 11:55 a.m.
Nic, at 5 votes, I sure would want to know. I assume that if he was bold enough to run for public office, he actually wanted to win. Nice try with the straw man.
Joker on November 04 at 12:06 p.m.
Jim Brannon hides in the bathroom more than a teenage girl trying to get her makeup just right.
nic on November 04 at 12:06 p.m.
What straw man? I realize that 5 votes is within the margin of error. Brannon has the right to ask for a recount, and I wouldn’t blame him if he did. I’m not using an irrelevant topic to discredit Brannon’s rights. The city budget is relevant. It will cost the city money to do a recount. If someone campaigns on the thought that the city is spending too much money, it would come across as hypocritical to ask for a recount when it would cost the city more money. It takes away any credibility he might have to propose budget cuts.
nic on November 04 at 12:07 p.m.
And accusing people of using a straw man is usually a straw man fallicy. Just saying.
eagleeye on November 04 at 12:38 p.m.
Nic,
Whats wasteful spending about asking for a recount in an election of over 6000 votes that is decided by 5 votes? Come on! I am a Kennedy supporter and a budget hawk and even I wont complain about that. I would expect Mike to do the same thing if Brannon had won by 5 votes. There is enough things to be critical of Brannon. This isnt one of them.
Cindy_H on November 04 at 12:44 p.m.
Agreed. A five-vote margin with voters like DFO out there gookening their ballots, should make a recount, a given.
No whining about the cost. If more voters had gotten off their keesters the margin wouldn’t be this close.
Sisyphus on November 04 at 12:57 p.m.
The recount is the cost of doing business for a democracy. Can’t sacrifice the sanctity of the ballot box. But Brannon is crazy if he think he can’t be criticized for costing the city money given his campaign rhetoric.

“A five-vote margin with voters like DFO out there gookening their ballots,”—LOL. Dang, girl you’re on a roll today. Don’t peak too soon.

“If more voters had gotten off their keesters the margin wouldn’t be this close.”—I’ve seen this a lot today, mostly from the losing side. Speculating that more voters could have changed the outcome is just that, speculation. Rolling an apathetic ignorant citizen off his couch doesn’t lead to better choices. But I’m sure GOTV commandos in both campaigns are kicking themselves.
Cindy_H on November 04 at 1:00 p.m.
“Rolling an apathetic ignorant citizen off his couch doesn’t lead to better choices.”

Agreed. But it does lead to more votes. I speculate there are Kennedy supporters out there who assumed he had the election locked up and didn’t bother to vote. Shameful.
Either way more votes, ignorant or, not might have negated the necessary expense of a recount.
bpoole on November 04 at 1:01 p.m.
I would expect any canidate would ask for a recount, however, the losing individual should foot the bill, not the city. Jim Brannon should volunteer to pay the bill.
MamaJD on November 04 at 1:03 p.m.
It’s nice that the election officials and City staff are explaining the options available to the candidates. Kudos to the officials who are wading through all of this in such a professional and upfront manner.
Aliasjax on November 04 at 1:16 p.m.
I’ll defend the right to not vote as a matter of free speech.

Not voting, as a means of protest over the failures or moral shortcomings of democracy, or how the system is “gamed” is a matter of free speech against the system. Principled non voting is as virtuous, maybe moreso, than voting.

I also make no value judgment of the apathetic. It’s their right to not care, not believe they make a difference, and be content or discontent with the results of any election. The idea that one can only complaign about the results of any election if they voted is flat out wrong. We have an inalienable right to redress our government, it is not predicated on whether one voted or not.
Cabbage Boy on November 04 at 1:22 p.m.
Nic, claiming you aren’t using a straw man doesn’t mean you aren’t either.

Getting the vote right does not undermine his message. If Kennedy lost by 5 and asked for a recount, would you say Brannon was right that Kennedy approves of wasteful spending?
DFO on November 04 at 1:27 p.m.
@ MamaJD re: “Kudos to the officials who are wading through all of this in such a professional and upfront manner.”

Everyone should agree w/me that the Coeur d’Alene area is blessed to have City Clerk Susan Weather making a list and checking it twice when elections roll around. Ditto for elections chief Deedie Beard and County Clerk Dan English. Top notch individuals and public servants all.
Sisyphus on November 04 at 1:29 p.m.
I second the motion. All in favor?
bpoole on November 04 at 2:18 p.m.
” I ”
nic on November 04 at 2:47 p.m.
CB, if Mike lost by 5 votes, I wouldn’t want a recount. I don’t like recounts in general. I didn’t want a Bush/Gore recount, I despised the multiple recounts in the Gregoire/Rossi standoff. I abhored the Franken/Coleman recount.

I hate recounts.
Cabbage Boy on November 04 at 3:26 p.m.
That’s fine Nic, I like accuracy. If it is within the specified margin, recount. Takes away all excuses, theories… whatever. Just make sure it is accurate.
redman on November 04 at 10:42 p.m.
nic on November 04 at 2:47 p.m.

CB, if Mike lost by 5 votes, I wouldn’t want a recount. I don’t like recounts in general. I didn’t want a Bush/Gore recount, I despised the multiple recounts in the Gregoire/Rossi standoff. I abhored the Franken/Coleman recount.

I hate recounts.

Point taken, if Mike had lost by five votes I would expect a recount, its a no brainer.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.