Connecticut: Courtney concedes in CT-02, will not request a recount
Warren Stewart, VoteTrust USA: Ending over a week of speculation, Democratic challenger Joseph Courtney has conceded defeat and will not ask for a further recount of his 434 vote loss to Joe Courtney. The deadline to file legal challenges is Tuesday. State Democratic leaders say they have uncovered a number of voting "irregularities" and may pursue their own elections complaints, but will respect and support Courtney's decision not to legally contest the outcome. Rumor has it that Courtney intends to seek a rematch in 2008, and thus wishes to avoid being perceived as a sore loser.
In related election news, CT Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz announced Wednesday that a 20% audit in 17 voting precincts will be conducted Nov. 22 to 28. This audit will not include precincts in the Second District. The audit, which will be overseen by the secretary's office and by the University of Connecticut computer science department, will involve a hand count of every paper ballot fed into the Diebold AccuVote optical-scan machines that counted votes on Election Day.
Linda Stender keeps lead in New Jersey recount
As the standard voting system in New Jersey consists of direct-recording electronic machines without a voter-verified paper audit trail, only an electronic review of initial returns was possible for most votes cast throughout the state. This review found no irregularities. A hand recount was initiated among absentee ballots and provisional votes and resulted in a gain of 54 votes for Democrat Stender, and a gain of 122 votes for incumbent Republican Mike Ferguson, narrowing the margin but insufficient to change the overall result.
Heather Wilson comes up short in recount - Patricia Madrid elected
New Mexico uses only paper ballots that are tabulated by optical scanners. Candidates or voters initiating a recount may request either a recount conducted by hand or a retabulation conducted by machine, referred to in New Mexico as a “recheck.” Heather Wilson, the Republican incumbent, requested a hand recount which duly proceeded. Election officials have certified a new vote tally of 105,968 votes for state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, and 105,912 votes for Rep Wilson.
Recount finds new winner in Nevada's 3rd district:
Tessa Hafen elected to Congress!
Nevada uses direct-recording electronic voting machines with a voter-verified paper audit trail in its elections. Although a hand recount of 5% of the precincts selected by challenger Tessa Hafen did not find any significant discrepancies, a hand recount of absentee and provisional ballot saw the acceptance of over a hundred improperly rejected votes, resulting in a gain of 129 votes for Democrat Tessa Hafen, and 62 votes for two-term Republican incumbent Jon Porter. As a result, Tessa Hafen has been certified as the winner of the election by a 27-vote margin.
Ohio recount results in tied election!
After a recount of votes in Ohio's 15th district turned up several 'forgotten' precincts in rural Madison and Union counties which election officials had mistakenly neglected to include in the results, state election officials have certified that the incumbent Deborah Pryce (R) has received 112,670 votes. The challenger, Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D) has also received 112,670 votes.
Pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code, Title 35, Chapter 3505.33, "When the board of elections has completed the canvass of the election returns from the precincts in its county, in which electors were entitled to vote at any general or special election, it shall determine and declare the results of the elections determined by the electors of such county or of a district or subdivision within such county. If more than the number of candidates to be elected to an office received the largest and an equal number of votes, such tie shall be resolved by lot by the chairman of the board in the presence of a majority of the members of the board." As such, it appears that the next Congresswoman representing the citizens of Ohio's 15th Congressional District shall be selected by lot.
Conservatives denounce "public gambling" in Ohio's 15th District
Although candidates Deborah Pryce and Mary Jo Kilroy have agreed on a public coin flip as the method of resolving the election by lot, some social conservatives have denounced the decision as "public gambling."
Motivated by anti-gambling concerns, they point to Ohio's Revised Code, Title 29, Chapter 2915.04, which states "No person, while at a hotel, restaurant, tavern, store, arena, hall, or other place of public accommodation, business, amusement, or resort shall make a bet or play any game of chance or scheme of chance.... Whoever violates this section is guilty of public gaming. Except as otherwise provided in this division, public gaming is a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of any gambling offense, public gaming is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree." They claim that an election board counts as a 'public accommodation', and that the event will set a bad example to children.
Tennessee review finds narrowed margin, but Harold Ford Jr still comes up short
A review of electronic votes and recount of paper ballots (primarily absentee ballots and provisional votes) resulted in a gain of 1,048 votes for Harold Ford Jr (D), and 624 votes for his opponent Bob Corker Jr. The tally is now 904,724 for Mr. Corker and 904,711 for Mr. Ford - a margin of only 13 votes. The ball is now in Mr. Ford's court as to whether he wishes to pursue legal action over what state Democrats call "worrying irregularities" with undervotes on ES&S iVotronic voting machines in Davidson and Shelby counties. If he decides against, Mr. Corker shall be the next U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee.
Democrat Ciro Rodriguez elected in surprise 56-44 blowout
Election observers in Texas's 23rd district expected incumbent Henry Bonilla to triumph in the low-turnout runoff with the advantages of incumbency, and the political machine that he'd built. At best, they expected Rodriguez to make it a close race. Even Democratic operatives were surprised to learn that they had not just won the election, but done so comprehensively by double digits.
In retrospect, the decision by state Republicans to schedule the runoff on December 12 - the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day of worship and celebration for many Latinos - appears to have contributed to the margin of Rodriguez's victory. According to a veteran GOP operative who insisted on remaining anonymous, "The state scheduled the election for December 12 since we thought that Hispanics would be too busy worshiping at church to have time to vote. In retrospect, we forgot to consider that many churches double as polling places."
Karen Carter Peterson elected in narrow polarized victory
Election results by parish:
Jefferson Parish (100/100 precincts reporting):
Karen Carter Peterson - 3,066 (20.38%), William J. Jefferson - 11,982 (79.62%)
Orleans Parish (392/392 precincts reporting):
Karen Carter Peterson - 31,297 (59.41%), William J. Jefferson - 21,386 (40.59%)
Total: Karen Carter Peterson - 34,363 (50.73%), William J. Jefferson - 33,368 (49.27%)
Disgraced eight-term Representative William J. Jefferson lost his re-election bid, rejected by voters at the polls yesterday. Contrary to expectation, the election remained a tight-fought race to the end, and Jefferson nearly pulled it off with overwhelming support from white voters in Jefferson Parish, thanks to Sheriff Harry Lee's barrage of criticism of Jefferson opponent Karen Carter Peterson. However, his remarks appear to have also created a backlash in the larger Orleans Parish among Jefferson's black voter base, enough for Peterson to clinch a majority.
The root of the disagreement lies in an incident last year during Hurricane Katrina, when Jefferson Parish police forcibly stopped a crowd of predominately black storm victims from escaping downtown New Orleans after being stranded there for days. The cops fired warning shots over the heads of the crowd, preventing them from seeking refuge. Carter Peterson repudiated and criticized the Jefferson police's actions, causing Harry Lee to launch a diatribe against her.
