Reply #12: Austin TX - Recount for TX House Race

[DoYouEverWonder]

The Smoke Clears In Lege Races

NOVEMBER 12, 2004

Democrat Kelly White picked up 24 votes and narrowed her loss to Republican state Rep. Todd Baxter to 147 votes after Monday's count of provisional and overseas ballots, but the White campaign is now considering whether to pursue a costly examination of more than 100 ballots tossed out of the mix. Regardless, White is still expected to seek a recount in the District 48 House race. A recount would be a long shot, supporters agree, but not an unreasonable request given Baxter's wafer-thin margin of victory.

Before Monday's count, Baxter held a 171-vote lead, out of more than 69,000 votes cast in the two-candidate race. A reconsideration of those provisional ballots deemed ineligible could also narrow the margin; White campaign consultant David Butts said only about a third of the 163 provisional ballots cast in District 48 made the cut. Those that were thrown out contained the types of careless errors one makes when hurriedly filling out a form, Butts said, such as entering a birth date with the year 2004, for example, or omitting pertinent information.

The late count of provisional and overseas ? predominantly military ? ballots took place Sunday and Monday at the county courthouse. White added 54 votes to her total, whereas Baxter only added 30. (As an interesting footnote, Butts said the majority of military votes in the Travis Co. presidential race went to John Kerry, who took 259 votes to George Bush's 138.) Witnessing the vote count for the Democrats were Butts and lawyer MariBen Ramsey (both representing the White campaign) along with local party Chair Chris Elliott and coordinated campaign director Glen Maxey. Republican poll watchers during the two-day process featured several attorneys from the Locke Liddell & Sapp law firm, as well as the always unpredictable former (Democratic) County Judge Bill Aleshire, representing the Baxter campaign on behalf of the Riggs & Aleshire law firm. County GOP Chair Alan Sager also attended.


http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-11-12/pols_feature5.html