Recount Changes Three Races; Candidates Still Doubt Outcome

[holboz]

http://nwaonline.net/articles/2006/11/14/news/111406bzelexcontinued.txt


BENTONVILLE -- Nearly a week later, it appears Benton County's general election could be over.

The Benton County Election Commission, with help from a private consultant, recounted all paper ballots cast Nov. 7 and reloaded data from the electronic machines. These results -- the third in a week -- seemed to satisfy Jim McCarthy, the election coordinator

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But candidates were slow to accept the results.

"I appreciate the fact that Mr. McCarthy believes everything is correct now, but what assurance do we have of that?" said Janette Lasater, who in the latest results was six votes shy of a runoff for Lowell city clerk. "We have three totally different results."

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On election night, two errors occurred simultaneously, McCarthy said. The first error was a computer glitch caused when the county's information services department tried to send a live feed of results to an election watch party at the Clarion Hotel in Bentonville. That glitch caused votes to be deleted as new results were entered six precincts at a time.

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