The Franklin News-Post
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Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
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| Perriello declares victory; Goode cites 'irregularities' |
Congressman Virgil Goode |
Monday, November 10, 2008
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Rocky Mount) said Friday that "irregularities" in the vote reporting have "cast doubt" on the reported vote totals in his Fifth District House race with Democrat Tom Perriello.
Meanwhile, Perriello has declared victory and started the process of setting up shop on Capitol Hill.
Perriello, a political newcomer from Albemarle County, said he met with former Fifth District congressman L.F. Payne Jr. Saturday morning. Perriello said he asked Payne to head his transition effort because Payne "is such a great resource. He knows Southside so well and Washington so well."
Payne represented the Fifth District from 1988 to 1997. His retirement from Congress paved the way for the election of Goode.
If he is certified the Fifth District race winner in Tuesday's election by the Virginia State Board of Elections on Nov. 24, Perriello needs a transition team to help him prepare to start work as a lawmaker as soon as Congress reconvenes in January, according to Jessica Barba, his communications director.
But Goode said there has been a "number of reporting irregularities," including the misplacement of paper ballots and tape records from electronic voting machines.
At a news conference at his campaign office in Rocky Mount Friday, Goode said there have also been miscalculations in vote tallies.
"In fact, almost 20 percent of all the voting precincts in the district had reporting errors," Goode said. "While current unofficial tallies have me trailing my opponent, these irregularities have cast doubt on the reported totals."
"It is essential that we get to the bottom of these problems and insist on a thorough and proper vote count process," he added.
Goode said the fight will continue "to make sure that every single legitimate vote in the Fifth District is accurately counted and reported."
Perriello has a 745-vote lead over Goode after hundreds of uncounted paper ballots were reportedly discovered in two precincts in Charlottesville on Thursday.
If he remains behind in the vote totals after the results are certified, Goode said he will decide by Nov. 24 whether to ask for a recount.
Goode said he will continue to evaluate the counting process.
"Maybe we will have a Charlottesville miracle like my opponent," he said.
Goode said he remains confident he will win when the process is completed.
Although the vote numbers are sent in to the board during canvassing and tallied on the board's website, the votes won't be certified until Nov. 24, he said.
When the vote is finally certified, the loser can request a recount if the difference in the vote is less than 1 percent of the total vote.
If the 745-vote difference stands, that is well below 1 percent of the total votes cast.
According to the state Board of Elections, the losing candidate is the only one who can request a recount and has 10 days to do so after the vote has been certified.
In preparation for the recount, the clerks of circuit court secure all paper ballots and other election materials in a sealed box and place all sealed boxes in a place closed to the public.
The determination of the votes in a recount is based on votes actually cast in the election (including absentee and provisional ballots). It will not take into account spoiled ballots or other ballots that were ruled invalid.
For direct recording electronic machines, the recount officials will read the results from the printouts sealed in the clerk's office.
For optical scan ballots, recount officials will rerun all the ballots through a tabulator programmed to count only the votes for the office in question, separating out any ballots with write-in votes, undervotes or overvotes for hand counting.
Paper ballots will be hand-counted.
When the recount is over, parties can inspect any questioned ballots. After hearing arguments, the court will certify to the state Board of Elections and the electoral board the candidate with the most votes.
The counties and cities involved in a recount are responsible for paying their respective costs for the recount if the margin between the two candidates is half a percent or less or if the candidate requesting the recount is declared the winner by the recount court.
Otherwise, the candidate who requested the recount must pay the cost.
The 745-vote margin, if it stands, would be about two-tenths of one percent, less than a half a percent, of the total votes cast. In that case, the candidate would not be responsible for the cost of the recount.
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