As Kentucky basketball heats up its season against Maryland and Duke on the road, several campaigns are gearing up for recanvasses and possible recounts. The 7th Representative District race between Tim Kline and the incumbent, John Arnold, is separated by only 5 votes of the 15,775 cast. In the 3rd Senatorial District, the vote margin is 297 out of 36,617 cast for either Whitney Westerfield or Joey Pendleton, the incumbent. Ted Edmonds, the current representative, also ran a narrow race in the 91st Representative District against Gary Herald who leads him by only 134 votes of the 12,530 cast.
It is not clear whether any of the candidates will request a recount, such a decision usually occurs after the completion of a recanvass. At least two have filed for a recanvass, with Arnold’s race having the most potential for a recount. There are a number of avenues that can lead to a recount, in Kentucky. Either a candidate or an election official can trigger the recount process. Each of these paths have different requirements. The election-official initiated recount occurs if election officials report errors in administration to the county clerk. The clerk then must file a petition with the Circuit Court, within 15 days, requesting a recount. Election officials did not report any substantial election errors in any of the three races, making it unlikely the county clerk will file such a recount petition. [Read more…] about Results, Recanvass, Recount