Angelina County recount doesn't change election results, but adds 959 votes   (TX)

BRITTONY LUND    Lufkin Daily News    06 June 2008

A recount was held Wednesday for five county precinct ballot boxes that were incorrectly tallied in the March 4 primary election.

Thelma "Midget" Sherman, Angelina County tax assessor-collector/election administrator, oversaw the recount. The total number of voters before the recount was 17,850. After the recount, there turned out to be 959 more votes, resulting in a total number of 16,891 votes.

"It didn't change anything (in the election results) — just the numbers," Sherman said.

The error occurred when a site support technician loaded the personalized electronic ballot twice for five of the voting boxes, Sherman said.

For the recount, each of the five boxes the total votes were taken out and the personalized electronic ballot was reloaded one time for each box to get the correct totals. The totals were then matched with the signature sheets the judges turned in and found to match.

"It's strictly something (the technician) did," Sherman said. "As far as I know it hasn't been done before and won't be done again. It's one of those mistakes you don't ever want to happen again."

Angelina County state District Judge Paul E. White ordered the recount last month after county and district attorneys filed a petition in April asking for it. The recount applied to electronic votes cast at Precinct 13 in Lufkin at the Chambers Park rock house, Precincts 11 and 11B in Huntington, Precinct 6 in Allentown, and Precinct 19 in Rocky Hill.