August 18, 2005

Request for Manual Recount in San Diego Mayor Race

"This strange San Diego election season just got stranger.

A local group is asking for a hand recount of 11 precincts in last month's mayoral primary. Brina-Rae Schuchman, of the group Citizens Audit Parallel Election, questions the reliability of the county's optical scanner voting machines and is willing to pay for a sample recount to test that belief.

On Election Day, Schuchman and a group of more than 20 volunteers positioned themselves outside 11 randomly chosen precincts and asked exiting voters to repeat their vote in a mock election. She says nearly 50 percent of the voters signed an affidavit and did so.

The group's tally of this parallel vote was different enough from the official count, a variation of 2 percent to 4 percent, according to Schuchman, to reinforce their concern about the credibility of the machines' software.

By law, the recount must begin within seven days of Tuesday's request, County Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas says."

You can read the complete article here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at August 18, 2005 09:34 AM