OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — At Cravens Elementary School on Election Day, someone voted for both the Democrat and the Republican candidate on a paper ballot in a Kentucky state House election.
The voting machine asked if the person wanted to discard that ballot and fill out another one. But for reasons unknown, the voter declined, casting the ballot knowing it would not be counted in House district 13 — a race Democrat Jim Glenn would win by a single vote.
That ballot could be important in a recount scheduled to begin Saturday. Kentucky does not have automatic recounts for legislative races. But in a rare move, the Republican-controlled legislature ordered a recount after the GOP candidate, DJ Johnson, asked for one.
Daviess County election officials will crack open the voting machines on Saturday and count those paper ballots by hand. They will examine each ballot, including that over-vote at Cravens Elementary School. If they can determine the voter’s intent, that ballot could be counted.
“That would be the precinct I would look that would possibly have a difference in it,” said Richard House, chief deputy clerk for the Daviess County Clerk’s office.
Election recounts are rare, and it’s even rarer for a recount to change the outcome of an election. But of the at least 80 recounts nationwide following the 2018 elections, a total of 382 votes changed, according to research by Johnson’s legal team. That’s an average of 4.8 votes per race, more than enough to change the outcome in Kentucky’s House district 13.
Of those 80 recounts, five were decided by one-vote margins, and two of those recounts resulted in ties. In Fairmont, West Virginia, officials chose the winner of a city council seat by flipping buttons in a coffee can.
The recount in Kentucky House district 13 is different than most. Local election officials declared Glenn the winner, and the Kentucky State Board of Elections certified the results. Glenn took his seat in the legislature on Jan. 8. He has an office, staff and has been assigned to committees.
But Kentucky state law allows candidates to contest elections to the full House of Representatives. The House did not convene for its regular session until Jan. 8, more than a month after the election ended. The House appointed a nine-person Election Contest Board by a random drawing of the House clerk to hear the challenge. Six Republicans and three Democrats ended up on the board. After a hearing, the six Republicans voted to authorize the recount while the three Democrats voted against it.
The recount itself won’t determine who wins the seat. The Election Contest Board will use the recount to write a report. That report will go to the full House of Representatives, which has the final say over who wins the seat. But if the Republican-dominated House of Representatives votes to seat the GOP candidate, a lawyer for Glenn says they will file a lawsuit.
“He is already a seated legislator and we find flaws in this process,” attorney Anna Whites said.
Johnson said he doesn’t like the recount process for legislative races and has promised to introduce legislation to change it — if he wins.
“I want to know for sure. I just want to make sure that the count is accurate,” Johnson said.