Bill would clarify voting procedure, pay for recounts

Associated Press   25 January 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Election challengers would have to pay the entire cost of recounts that fail to change the results of the election, under a bill before state lawmakers.

The legislation, a top priority for the House and Senate, also would align federal Help America Vote Act standards with state law by creating a statewide voter database, requiring first-time voters to bring identification and defining who gets a provisional ballot.

The bill would also make clear that optical scan ballots marked in pencil and read by a machine would count even if they were marked incorrectly. Lawmakers want to make sure ballots cast by voters who underline or circle a candidate's name are counted regardless of who tallies them.

"It's not going to change outcomes of elections. It's just going to make them more accurate," said Kevin Coughlin, a Republican senator from Cuyahoga Falls who is sponsoring the bill.

Provisional ballots are cast at the polls and counted days after the election after officials verify the voter was registered in the correct precinct.

In October, a federal appeals court ruled that provisional ballots cast by Ohio voters outside their own precincts should not be counted.

Challengers of the presidential election paid $113,600 to re-tally the state's precincts, but Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell estimated the actual cost at $1.5 million.

The $10 per precinct charge has not changed since 1957. "It was never addressed because it was really never abused," said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Blackwell.

The Green and Libertarian presidential candidates requested the recount, arguing it assured that every vote was counted.