City Clerk Explains Possible Recount

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.