Butler County to begin its presidential recount today

Cox News   15 December 2004

HAMILTON ? The Butler County Board of Elections will begin its presidential recount process today.

The task could be completed by Thursday, or it could drag on for two to three weeks. It depends on whether the count is done by hand or by machine, elections officials said.

The elections board will meet at 8 a.m. today to decide how the ballots will be counted. The actual recount will begin around 8:30 a.m., said Betty McGary, deputy director of the Butler County Board of Elections.

Election dissidents, led by a coalition representing the Green and Libertarian parties, are paying for recounts in each of Ohio?s 88 counties. Recounts will begin all over the state this week and are not expected to be complete until next week.

However, Butler County?s might last longer than that if a hand count is required, McGary said.

In a Nov. 18 letter, the Boston-based National Voting Rights Institute ? which represents Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb and Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik ? asked Butler County for a hand recount of votes cast in the county?s 289 precincts. Enclosed in the letter was a cashier?s check for $2,890 ? $10 per precinct as is specified in 1950?s election law on recount procedure.

Hand recounts can take days, or even weeks, McGary said. The money won?t be close to compensating her 40 employees, she said.

Therefore, McGary and elections board Director Robert Mosketti are recommending the board follow the advice offered by the Ohio Secretary of State?s office: Hand count 3 percent of the ballots, then run those through the tabulation machine. If the electronic results match the hand count, the remainder of the ballots can be processed electronically.

However, if the count does not match, the law requires the entire lot be hand counted.

?If we do it electronically it will just be part of the day?s work. If not ? if we?re even one off ? you?re talking about thousands? of hours and dollars spent, she said. ?Come see us New Year?s Day, we?ll still be here.?

The board had already accrued 5,300 overtime hours through November, she said.

Statewide, the recount is expected to cost $1.5 million, according to the Ohio Secretary of State?s Office.

The last presidential recount in Ohio occurred in the 1976 presidential race between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, according to the secretary of state?s office.