We should find out today if Hubert Vo's lead in the HD149 race will stand up.
Officials began but didn't finish counting the county's 3,000 absentee ballots on Sunday. They planned to finish on Monday as well as count 4,000 provisional ballots.Intermingled with all these ballots are about 189 provisional and 200 absentee ones from people who voted in the race between Heflin and Vo.
This process is usually without much fanfare but this time it had at least 24 poll watchers, half Democrat and half Republican, looking on and taking notes.
"Usually we have no poll watchers. It's no doubt because of the closeness of the race," said David Beirne, a spokesman for the Harris County Clerk's office. "We welcome them. It's just that normally the margin is wide enough so that no one sees this process unfold after the election itself."
While the poll watchers stood over the about two dozen early voting ballot board members as they reviewed absentee ballots, members of both candidates' campaigns sat a few hundred feet away and waited.
Craig Murphy, spokesman for the Heflin campaign, said if the Harris County Clerk's office had given an updated total Sunday, that would have been a fairly good indication of where the race stood.
"Both sides, if it's close, are going to ask for a recount just to make sure it's right," he said. "If the margin is tiny, tiny mistakes could make a difference."
Karen Loper, Vo's campaign manager, said the status of the race won't be known until the provisional ballots are counted on Monday.
"It would just be premature to make a statement on incomplete returns," she said. "We'll wait to see what happens."
The only other race that could possibly tip during the count of absentee and provisional ballots is the White/Baxter race in HD48. According to Karl-T and confirmed by an email sent out to supporters by Mark Strama, the number of outstanding ballots in Strama's campaign against Jack Stick is smaller than the difference in their cumulative totals. There could still be a recount, but if so it will be made with Strama as the original winner. The Leibowitz/Mercer race appears to be over as well, again pending the loser's decision whether or not to ask for a recount.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 08, 2004 to Election 2004 | TrackBackIt is really hard to imagine that one can "steal" a race right under the noses of so many interested parties.
Just because blogs provide an outlet to write outrageous things doesn't mean we always have to take the opportunity. It would be nice if folks could be a little more responsible.
Posted by: kevin whited on November 8, 2004 7:55 AMFar from being irresponsible, those who have raised questions about the vote count in the Vo-Heflin race are trying to safeguard the democratic process.
The actions thus far of Republican County Clerk Beverly Kaufman and her staff are irregular, at best. She admits that she stopped counting ballots on Election Night and sent her staff home at 9:30 p.m. She has been rebuked for that and other unexplained actions by Secretary of State Geoff Connor, a partisan Republican appointed by the most partisan Republican of them all, Gov. Rick Perry.
Kaufman and her staff have admitted to being under extreme pressure from Heflin and his Austin allies, the GOP Establishment that views this race as critical to the re-election hopes of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick.
Kaufman has released widely varying figures fro the numbers of mail-in and provisional ballots that remain to be counted. There is even an unconfirmed report that her staff has called absentee voters who forgot to sign their ballots -- thus, invalidating their votes -- and asked them to come in and sign them after the fact.
There will probably be an investigation of all this in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Harris Co. voters will have to decide in the next election whether Ms. Kaufman has conducted herself "responsibly" or not.
Posted by: Marty Jackson on November 8, 2004 9:06 AMMarty, I think it would be beneficial if you could provide some references to support some of your contentions.
She admits that she stopped counting ballots on Election Night and sent her staff home at 9:30 p.m. She has been rebuked for that and other unexplained actions by Secretary of State Geoff Connor,...
and
Kaufman and her staff have admitted to being under extreme pressure from Heflin and his Austin allies, the GOP Establishment that views this race as critical to the re-election hopes of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick.
I do not question one's right and responsibilty to question the process by which we conduct elections. However, the tendency to leap to the conclusion of a nefarious scheme without providing credible sources undermines such a case.
Posted by: Patrick on November 8, 2004 10:20 AMKevin, I just searched this thread, and the only person here who has used the word "steal" is you. Please get a grip. Given that Vo's own campaign manager has made a calm, reasoned statement advocating a wait-and-see attitude, it's difficult for me to understand what you have to complain about.
Let them count the votes. With all those observers, I'm assuming there will be no fraud in the counting, and everyone will accept the outcome. We'll all know the result soon enough.
Posted by: Steve Bates on November 8, 2004 10:25 AMSteve, please do the link to the Burnt Orange Report. I think that may be the accusations of theft to which Kevin is referring.
But I agree with you that we should take a wait and see attitude. I would hope that the observers in place will ensure a proper count.
Posted by: Patrick on November 8, 2004 11:39 AM