Johnson Co MO recount vote complete.

[xmas74]

There is no link online so I will type out the article for you and give the appropriate credit.

Ballot Recount Complete in Two Contested Races
by Sue Sterling
Star-Journal Staff Writer

(as printed in The Daily Star-Journal, Warrensburg, MO Wed,Feb 21,2007)

Teams appointed to do a recount of ballots in two contested races from the November general election in Johnson County have completed their work, County Clerk Gilbert Powers stated today.

Powers said the recount was completed about 5 p.m. Tuesday and the teams stayed until aabout 6 p.m. to complete the canvass and sign the final draft of the report of the findings, which will be submitted to the Circuit Court.

Powers said he hoped to get signatures today of the team members who were not present Tuesday and file the report with the court either later today or Thursday.

The report will give the count as determined by the team, he said, adding " a good number" of challenged will have to be decided by the court before the final results are known.

Powers said he anticipates Judge John O'Malley of Kansas City, who was appointed by the Supreme Court to hear the case, will call a hearing to consider the results and determine the resolution of the races.

Auditor Kay Dolan, who was seeking re-election as a Democrat, and Monica Penrose, the Democratic candidate for the county prosecutor, had filed a petition seeking the recount after losing their races by four votes and 46 votes, respectively, to Republican challengers Teresa Collins and Lynn Stoppy Brackin.

State law allows candidates who lose races by less than 1 percent of the total vote to petition for a recount at no cost.

O'Malley ruled that a hand recount would be conducted on 14,370 ballots from the election that had originally been counted by optical scanner.

Both sides were asked to submit names to O'Malley for three teams that would conduct the recount, and he selected 12 persons from that list who served on the teams.

Powers had estimated the recount, which began Feb. 13, could take up to two weeks to complete.

But he commended the team members today for their efficiency in conduction the recount, stating the teams "did an excellent job. They were very deliberate and very detailed and they did a good job of staying focused.

"Because of their efficiency, we got down about a day and a half ahead" of the projected finish time.



(Mods-if you need to cut this down a bit I will understand. I typed it directly from the front page of the local paper since there is no online link and this had been discussed a few months ago.)

[xmas74]

1. Followup:

Dolan seems to have won by three votes but that will probably be contested again.

Brackin seems to have kept her win but by less votes than before.

[xmas74]

2. Followup

Dolan did win, according to the courts, by two votes. She was supposed to take office on Mar 1. Collins has chosen to fight this so, as of this time, she is still in office.