Reply #19: VT: Salmon leads in auditor recount

[rumpel]

December 15, 2006
By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER — Challenger Tom Salmon is leading in an as-yet incomplete recount of votes in the race for state auditor of accounts, but state officials and the two candidates who still are vying for the post said Thursday the result remains undecided.

An informal Associated Press tally of the 13 counties that have completed their recounts showed Salmon in the lead by 2,404 votes. In the regular election, incumbent Auditor Randy Brock won Chittenden County by a 2,202-vote margin, so if those results do not change during the ongoing recount, Brock would be about 202 votes shy of retaining his seat.

Many of the votes that have changed during the recount have been in towns with paper ballots — of which there are relatively few in Chittenden County.

But Brock, Salmon and Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz warned Thursday against concluding that Salmon will win the post at this point based on incomplete results and unofficial tallies. That is because both candidates have gained and lost votes in different parts of the state for different reasons, and the same could hap-pen in Chittenden County.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/NEWS02/612150347/1003/NEWS02