Recount of Fayette GOP commissioners race begins
The hand recount of six precincts无毛视频� worth of primary ballots in Fayette County无毛视频檚 Republican commissioner race started Monday, with officials expecting to finish sometime today.
Elections Bureau Director MaryBeth Kuznik was flanked by four workers, who meticulously looked one-by-one at each ballot, announced the selections in the GOP commissioners race, recorded the votes and then held the paper up against a window for observers to see for themselves.
The process began at 8:30 a.m. in a specially designed room near the elections office to let the public view the recount.
By lunchtime the elections crew had reviewed 700 ballots out of approximately 1,800 that are being recounted in six precincts. With the pace of the counting, Kuznik estimated they would get through about 1,400 ballots by the end of the day Monday and need to return this morning to complete the recount. She anticipated it would be done by lunchtime.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 no such thing as a fast recount,无毛视频� Kuznik said. 无毛视频淚t takes time and we无毛视频檙e making sure it无毛视频檚 being done right.无毛视频�
The recount was spearheaded by Recorder of Deeds Jon Marietta, who ran for county commissioner in the primary, but finished in third behind incumbents David Lohr and Scott Dunn. Marietta lost GOP nomination by 121 votes to Dunn, according to election night results that have yet to be certified due to the challenges in the six precincts.
Marietta and two of his representatives watched the recount from a separate room through a glass window, just a few feet away from the election bureau无毛视频檚 workers. He and his two assistants held tabulating sheets as they counted along with the workers and interacted with them at times when they had questions.
无毛视频淚 think everyone is being real cooperative,无毛视频� Marietta told a reporter during one of the brief breaks. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e moving right along.无毛视频�
Senior Judge John F. Wagner Jr. also attended the beginning of the proceeding after signing a consent order last week to mandate the recount. The county无毛视频檚 elections board and Marietta无毛视频檚 attorney, Greg Teufel, agreed to the recount after Wagner ordered the elections office to turn over copies of ballots in the challenged precincts along with the digital 无毛视频渃ast vote record无毛视频� showing the tally of the votes. Marietta is alleging that 无毛视频渂leed-through无毛视频� from pen markings could have caused tabulating issues with the scanning equipment.
The 无毛视频渂leed-through无毛视频� on the ballots could be seen with the naked eye, although it无毛视频檚 not clear whether it would have affected the GOP commissioners race since no elections were on the opposite side directly behind that race. Elections officials previously said that the Dominion scanning machines are able to correctly tabulate the results despite the markings going through the paper.
The recount process stopped briefly Monday afternoon when the staff had a question about how to count a ballot where the voter filled in the 无毛视频渨rite-in无毛视频� circle and then crossed it out without filling in a name, but also selected two commissioner candidates. Kuznik looked up the state Department of State rules on such votes and determined they should count the vote for the two commissioner candidates the voter selected, although it was unknown if the scanner did so.
Marietta and his two representatives, who were the only three people in the observation room in the afternoon, were able to listen to the conversation by the elections staff counting with the help of a microphone in the room. They also could interact by asking questions at times, but they mostly just spoke to each other to help keep track of the tally.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e trying to accommodate the folks who brought the challenges as we best as we can,无毛视频� Fayette County solicitor Jack Purcell said. 无毛视频淎nd they seem comfortable with the process.无毛视频�
Kuznik added that they were working through a process to avoid 无毛视频渞ecount fatigue无毛视频� with the staff by making sure redundancies were in place to ensure the count was being done accurately.
The county elections office is focusing on in-person and mail-in ballots for the GOP commissioners race in Connellsville Township, Dunbar Borough, South Connellsville Borough, the third precinct in Georges Township and precincts one and three in Bullskin Township. The recount is expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. today.