Judge, Democratic gubernatorial candidates iron out recount rules
By Louis Porter
Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER – A state judge gathered Friday with the top three Democratic vote getters for governor in a Montpelier courtroom to hammer out the details of how to speed a recount in their party’s primary.
Peter Shumlin, Doug Racine and Deb Markowitz, who all attended the hearing, said they will do what they can to move the process along and have their nominee ready to face Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, a Republican.
“We share the goal of uniting behind a single candidate as soon as possible,” said Shumlin, who with nearly 200 more votes than Racine, is the apparent nominee.
But despite using time-saving measures such as machine ballot counters where possible and working through the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana next week, it may be difficult to recount the 76,000 ballots in the Democratic primary and re-tally the results by Sept. 20. That date represents a likely deadline because federal rules, which also prompted the Legislature to move this year’s primary date into August from September, require a 45-day period for ballots to be mailed overseas and returned by voters there.
One possible delay will not be a problem, said Markowitz, who is also the Secretary of State and oversees elections. Although the ballots will have to be ready to be printed on Sept. 20, (in fact other than the line for the Democratic nominee for governor they already are ready), they will not all have to be printed. That’s because town clerks will receive electronic files of the ballots, which can be printed on their office printers for the small numbers of voters who will need them or need them mailed immediately, Markowitz said.
A variety of other technical issues were also worked out before Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford drafted the order which will guide court clerks around the state in how to conduct the recount requested by Racine. His order includes Racine’s request that, to save time, tabulator machines be used in a statewide recount in Vermont for the first time since the law was changed this biennium to allow their use.
Nobody knows how long the recount, which will begin Wednesday, will take: It is the first statewide recount in modern Vermont history of a primary election. While typically a more adversarial process between political parties, the unity among the top candidates means this recount is more a collegial family affair to determine the selection of the Democratic nominee.
Clerks arranging the recounts in the courthouses in each of the state’s 14 counties will try to assign four-member re-counting teams consisting of two Racine supporters and two Shumlin supporters. But where that is not possible, Judge Crawford and the candidates agreed those four-person groups could be configured differently or could include supporters of just one candidate. So far the Democrats have found more than 600 possible volunteers to work in shifts on the recount and are seeking more, although far less than the 40 people per county will likely be needed in smaller jurisdictions like Essex County and Grand Isle County.
Crawford rejected a suggestion by the candidates that the volunteers and officials work on Saturdays, although he left open the possibility that would change if the recount proceeds too slowly.
“What I really want is a process that is steady and reliable and 100 percent accurate,” Crawford said.
“The potential for this to drag on is not in anybody’s best interest,” Racine said.
Crawford also gave the three candidates a bit of personal disclosure. Markowitz is a family friend and his wife donated $750 to her campaign, the judge noted.
That is fine, “as long as she is willing to match it,” Shumlin joked.
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100904/NEWS02/709049935/1003/NEWS02
