Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Elrod Beats Mahern By Five Votes

The initial counting process is finally over in Marion County one week after the election, and the the certified vote count in the House District 97 races finds Jon Elrod (R) beat Rep. Ed Mahern (D) by just five votes. But that's not likely to be the end of the matter because Democrats are likely to seek a recount. The Star's Andy Gammill reports:

Democratic incumbent Ed Mahern will lose his re-election run for the Indiana House to Republican challenger Jon Elrod based on uncertified election results, Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler said Tuesday.

Democrats, however, disputed whether the vote total -- which has Elrod ahead by five votes in District 97 -- was final, and Marion County election officials expect a recount in such a tight race.

The deadline for certifying all votes is noon Monday. Recounts are conducted by state officials after the certification at the request of a candidate.Mahern received 4,438 votes to Elrod's 4,443.

All ballots have been counted, Sadler said, except for four provisional ballots. Those four voters didn't have appropriate identification to vote and have until Friday to appear at the Election Board office and prove their identities.

Plus, three absentee ballots cast before Election Day will not be counted, Sadler said. State law required that the ballots be counted at the polling place on Election Day, but the Election Board was unable to get them there on time.That means the ballots can't be included in the tally, Sadler said, adding that some ballots are discarded each year because of that problem.

Democratic Chairman Ed Treacy said he believes those three absentee ballots can -- and will -- be counted.

"If they don't count them, I'll guarantee it will go to court," he said. "The name of the game is to count all of the ballots, not to count just the ones they want to count. This ain't over."

Mahern said he was still waiting to see how the last few votes turned out but said he would seriously consider a recount."

There are several things that did not go right with this election," he said. "I will have something to say if people are disenfranchised."

Elrod, 29, said he's happy to wait to declare victory until every legal vote has been counted and a recount process has played out."

I don't think it's such a bad thing to make sure all the votes are counted," he said.

If you ever needed a reminder that every vote counts, this election race certainly proves that.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Plus, three absentee ballots cast before Election Day will not be counted, Sadler said. State law required that the ballots be counted at the polling place on Election Day, but the Election Board was unable to get them there on time. That means the ballots can't be included in the tally, Sadler said, adding that some ballots are discarded each year because of that problem.

This bothers me. Not pointing fingers at Ms. Sadler but the quirkiness of state law that says these absentee ballots must be counted at the precinct on election day. The Election Board that brought out the absentee ballots was bi-partisan. So both parties are at fault.

I voted absentee in my precinct which includes the 97th. I hope my vote for Jon counted.

Anonymous said...

Crap, I'm agreeing with Hailstone...

Of course those votes should count. If they are valid (meaning properly submitted, et cetera) they should count. Just that DA can't seem to run an election. I hope White does better.

Anonymous said...

Anyone still think Voter ID isn't a problem? Four provisional ballots in thei race were cast by persons with invaluid, outdated or improper picture IDs.

Which is dumb.

This law must be revisited, and other forms of ID must be allowed to count.

Anonymous said...

Four provisional ballots in thei race were cast by persons with invaluid, outdated or improper picture IDs.

Or NO ID at all. Voter ID isn't a problem. I think it worked very well. In the 98% Dem precinct I worked on Election Day, everyone, I mean EVERYONE had proper voter ID. Even caught someone attempting to vote fraudulently - Junior was trying to vote in place of Senior. Voter ID didn't specify Jr, Sr, etc. The Election Judge spotted the DOB didn't jive. Turns out Senior died about 2 months ago. Junior was registered at another nearby precinct and was sent on his way.

Crap, I'm agreeing with Hailstone...

Amazing what happens when you're enlightened huh?

Just that DA can't seem to run an election

On this point I would disagree. This was the fault of the BI-PARTISA Election Board that didn't get their job done, and a quirk in the state law that should be taken up by the General Assembly in January.

Anonymous said...

A little off subject but when do they plan on counting the other 17% of votes in known GOP precincts for the Carson vs Dickerson race. Doesnt everyone want to know what the final tally was? AI, do you know if they have already counted the rest of the votes? Can they just decide not to finish counting because it looks like she won. She was up 8500 votes with 20000 left to count. He still could win. Even if he really lost, don't we deserve to know what the real spread was. Voters would like to know that their vote was counted. Don't they have to finish?

Gary R. Welsh said...

It is my understanding they have completed the vote counting and are prepared to certify the results. I don't understand why she hasn't updated the totals since November 11. Dickerson was behind by 10,000 votes as of the last reported count. There was no way he could erase that lead with the outstanding precincts. Here are those last reported totals:

(WITH 707 OF 725 PRECINCTS COUNTED 97.52%)
05A ERIC DICKERSON (REP) . . . . . 62,903 46.19
05B JULIA M. CARSON (DEM). . . . . 72,983 53.59
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 294 .22

Anonymous said...

Thanks. That was the closest one run against her. He did something right. Too bad the republicans didn't support their primary winner. They would have won. Why would they not support him, but openly supported Ron Franklin with his past? Awful curious to know why? Everyone preaches that they want good, quality black representation in the party, but when it is time to show up, noone does. What does that say?