NC 8 Recount for Kissell Hayes Contest? Deadlines and Details
The Kissell/Hayes contest for US Congress may end up in
a recount situation.
The New York Times says that if there is a recount, it would take place
November 20 or 21.
Volunteers to help out - anyone?
Here's the NY Times article:
"November 8, 2006 New York Times. Undecided Houses Races Roundup.
North Carolina’s 8th District: The final count of the extremely
close race in the south-central part of the state will determine
if Democrat Larry Kissell succeeded in his bid to defeat four-term
Republican Rep. Robin Hayes — which would be one of the year’s
biggest upsets — or fell just short. With all precincts reporting
in official returns, Hayes led Kissell by 456 votes out of more
than 120,000 counted, a margin of two-tenths of 1 percent...
Kissell, a social studies teacher, overcame huge disadvantages
in campaign money and name ID to make a serious run at Hayes
in a district where industrial decline is a big issue.
A recount, if it is called for, would take place Nov. 20 or 21..."
http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/11/08/cq_1919.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=11630...
The Independent Tribune says that canvassing is set for November 17th:
'Recount eminent in District 8 race
Hayes' reps say it's a win; Kissell remains optimistic
Thursday, November 9, 2006
"Yet to come in are the provisional ballots from across the district,
which, Hern said, could possibly be sooner than the Nov. 17 canvassing
date. Another release from Kissell’s camp Wednesday said a hand count
of provisional ballots is pending."'
http://www.independenttribune.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CIT/MGArtic...
If you want to volunteer to participate in the recount, if
there is a recount, contact your county Board of Elections. See
this link for that info -
http://www.app2.sboe.state.nc.us/about/directors.asp
My reading of NC law says that Kissell must request a recount
promptly after canvassing:
If a ballot item within the jurisdiction of the State Board of Elections:
"The demand for a recount must be in writing and must be received
by the State Board of Elections by noon on the second business day
after the county canvass." Read more here:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/C...
Some of the ten counties have touchscreen machines with the thermal paper trail, and some have the optical scan
paper ballots. The ten are: Anson, Cabarrus, Cumberland, Hoke,
Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly, and Union.
Here is the law regarding how recounts are done:
SECTION 6.(b) Article 15A of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 163-182.7A. Additional provisions for hand-to-eye recounts.
(a) The rules promulgated by the State Board of Elections for recounts shall provide that if the initial recount is not hand-to-eye, and if the recount does not reverse the results, the candidate who had originally been entitled to a recount may, within 24 hours of the completion of the first recount, demand a second recount on a hand-to-eye basis in a sample of precincts. If the initial recount was not hand-to-eye and it reversed the results, the candidate who had initially been the winner shall have the same right to ask for a hand-to-eye recount in a sample of precincts.
That sample shall be all the ballots in three percent (3%) of the precincts casting ballots in each county in the jurisdiction of the office, rounded up to the next whole number of precincts. For the purpose of that calculation, each one-stop (early) voting site shall be considered to be a precinct. The precincts to be recounted by a hand-to-eye count shall be chosen at random within each county. If the results of the hand-to-eye recount differ from the previous results within those precincts to the extent that extrapolating the amount of the change to the entire jurisdiction (based on the proportion of ballots recounted to the total votes cast for that office) would result in the reversing of the results, then the State Board of Elections shall order a hand-to-eye recount of the entire jurisdiction in which the election is held. There shall be no cost to the candidate for that recount in the entire jurisdiction.
(b) Recounts under this section shall be governed by rules adopted under G.S. 163-182.7(d).
(c) No complete hand-to-eye recount shall be conducted under this section if one has already been done under another provision of law."
SECTION 6.(c) This section becomes effective January 1, 2006.
http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2005/Bills/Senate/HTML/S223v7.html
Here are the "unofficial" results by state and by county:
US CONGRESS DISTRICT 08
Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 61,168
Larry Kissell DEM 60,822
Anson County - uses all optical scan with paper ballots
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
ANSON Larry Kissell DEM 3,370
ANSON Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 2,119
Cabarrus - uses mostly optical scan (paper ballots)
with some touchscreens (paper trail)
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
CABARRUS Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 17,348
CABARRUS Larry Kissell DEM 11,359
Cumberland - uses mostly optical scan (paper ballot)
with some touchscreens (paper trail)
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
CUMBERLAND Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 11,444
CUMBERLAND Larry Kissell DEM 9,581
Hoke - uses all optical scan with paper ballots
HOKE Larry Kissell DEM 3,147
HOKE Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 2,561
Mecklenburg - uses all touchscreens with paper trail
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
MECKLENBURG Larry Kissell DEM 10,847
MECKLENBURG Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 5,139
Montgomery - uses all optical scan with paper ballots
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
MONTGOMERY Larry Kissell DEM 3,845
MONTGOMERY Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 2,193
Richmond - uses all optical scan (paper ballots) and
some touchscreens (paper trail)
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
RICHMOND Larry Kissell DEM 5,587
RICHMOND Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 4,355
Scotland uses all optical scan with paper ballots
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
SCOTLAND Larry Kissell DEM 4,271
SCOTLAND Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 3,737
Stanly uses all optical scan with paper ballots
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
STANLY Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 9,452
STANLY Larry Kissell DEM 6,033
Union uses optical scan with touchscreen voting
County Name on Ballot Party Ballot Count
UNION Robert C. (Robin) Hayes REP 2,820
UNION Larry Kissell DEM 2,782
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/enrs/main_primary.asp?ED=11xx07xx2006&EL...
Here's a list of the type of voting machines by county -
http://www.ncvoter.net/downloads/2006_Voting_Machines_By_County.pdf
- NCVoter's blog
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Actually, the NYT got their facts wrong, it seems
Unless the State Board of Elections is wrong, the vote won't be certified until November 28th and a recount can't be requested before that date. Of course, that's only for the Congressional race b/c the Charlotte Observer (if they are correct) said the recount for local races can start after the 17. Our County Commission race will be recounted and House District 100 has to be recounted as well.
Also, the totals have changed at the SBOE b/c a precinct/machine was counted twice. Robin Hayes has 60,481 votes and Larry Kissell has 60,118 votes. (I liked the other totals better, personally.)
What do you think about the prospects of the paper/optical scan machines coughing up some votes on a recount? If you break it down, Larry needs about 3 votes per precinct.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
Canvass set for Nov 17, recount request due promptly
What do you mean by certified - you mean once the canvass is done?
If so, canvass is set for Nov 17th
Also, Kissell or Hayes has a very short window in which to request a recount.
Remember, if the canvass of provisionals is in favor of Kissell, then it may be Hayes who requests a recount.
If so, it is predicted that the canvass is set for Nov 17th, according to the Independent Tribune -
My reading of NC law says that Kissell must request a recount
promptly immediately after canvassing:
If a ballot item within the jurisdiction of the State Board of Elections:
"The demand for a recount must be in writing and must be received
by the State Board of Elections by noon on the second business day
after the county canvass." Read more here:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/C...
www.VotersUnite.org is examining the vote data for the 11th congressional district, but needs the voter turnout by precinct to detect any anomalies
that would require closer examination.
So, we need voter turnout by precinct in the 8th.
With that, we can predict where a recount might turn up more votes.
It is quite possible that in a touchscreen precinct, say in Mecklenburg
or other touchscreen counties - that a poll worker "forgot" to upload the results to a machine or two.
It happened in Warren County in the May primary, but eventually was
caught in the statewide audit (spot check of precincts).
(See http://www.triadblogs.com/NCVoter/3036/ )
To answer your question about recounting optical scan,
these ballots are a lot easier to recount, but these machines tend
to be more accurate. There are far more mistakes to be made with
touchscreens, like in Warren County.
Also, several states are reporting problems with touchscreens that
did not display contests, or did not record votes for contests, or
seemed to record the votes until the voter got to the "summary screen",
or that switched the votes.
Sarasota County is one, that uses a similar model of voting machine,
albeit slightly different version of the ES&S iVotronic.
We really need to see the precinct turnout data in 8th ASAP.
From the Observer and from
lawyers who specialize in election law....
If the Observer is wrong, it wouldn't be the first time. I have no explanation as to why the dates are different.
I have heard in several places and from most folks I know involved in elections that the paper ballot/optical scan are more likely to have errors than the touch screen machines used in Mecklenburg County. Ballots stick together or folks "x" in their answer instead of filling the bubble. On a visual/hand count these votes are picked up.