NYT: A Virginia Recount Would Not Come Soon

[DeepModem Mom]

A Virginia Recount Would Not Come Soon
By JOHN O’NEIL
Published: November 8, 2006

Virginia’s election laws allow an apparent loser to request a recount if a contest’s margin is less than 1 percent — and the margin in the preliminary results of the state’s Senate election stood this morning at about one-third of 1 percent.

While a recount seems likely, though, if it comes it will not come quickly.

According to a statement issued this month by the state’s Board of Elections, no request for a recount may be filed until the vote is certified, which is scheduled to happen this year on Nov. 27th.

After certification, a losing candidate has 10 days to file a recount request in the state courts. The petition will be considered by a panel made up of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court in Richmond and two judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. Those judges then set out guidelines for conducting the recount.

The costs of a recount are borne by the counties and cities conducting the review if the apparent margin of victory from the original count is less than one half of 1 percent, or if the candidate requesting the recount is ultimately declared the winner; otherwise the candidate must pay the cost....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/us/politics/08cnd-recount.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. who gives a flying hootie-hoo.... we won!

screw the thugs. we won.

[bullimiami]

2. what happened to 'get over it' and 'the voters have spoken' and

'how many times are you going to count them'

[bobbie]

24. Good observation bullimiami

Heh heh heh

[Lindacooks]

31. And 'wake up' and 'quit being sore losers' and

let's get on with the business of America!!

[crim son]

3. I think it's time for a graceful repuke concession speech.

Don't you?

[LostinVA]

7. From Virginia's Resident Punk?

[crim son]

23. Yeah, maybe you're right.

But it's a scene I'd like to see...

[saigon68]

26. Virginia's Resident Maccaca Lover

[johnnyrocket]

4. what? recount? Get over it!

[kwassa]

5. This is actually very important ... we could lose control of the Senate over it

wild jubilation is premature.

[LostinVA]

8. No we won't -- there's no way Allen can win now

It is literally impossible for him to make up around 8,000 votes.

The recount will be a formality. I just want the margin to be over .5%, so Felix has to pay for it, not me.

edited for spelling

[kwassa]

15. Ballots could be challenged or disqualified, particularly absentee

[LostinVA]

17. No no and no

Caution is one thing, bit some posters are running too scared about this. Webb has WON. Allen doesn't get to do any recount, the State does. The state that has a Dem gov and a Dem SOS.

No way will Allen be allowed to futz with the military absentee ballots -- Warner, et al wouldn't let him.

Senator-Elect James Webb.

[Heywood J]

16. Absentees and provisionals, people

Hold your tongues and watch very closely, lest anything happen. There are a whole lot of people who voted by one of those two means, and they still have to show up before certification. No one said Rove was out of tricks.

[LostinVA]

18. Absentee ballots have been counted, except for some Fairfax

Fairfax is heavy Dem. Provo ballots are mainly from NOVA... also heavily Dem. Webb has won.

[w4rma]

21. Virginia uses almost all DRE computer voting machines. There isn't hardly anything to "recount".

Btw, these damn machines should be destroyed, one and all.

[soothsayer]

28. My machine said "ADVANCED"---is that the same thing?

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. Allen has lost the election. A recount would show him losing again.

He knows it.

[LostinVA]

9. Yup,

[David__77]

10. Allen won't win a recount, BUT...

...it's crucial to organize and mobilize for that recount, to ensure that victory!

[Rowdyboy]

12. Agreed. Jim Webb has won but we must be prepared to defend

his victory. Otherwise, Mehlman and his gang of bullies will do everything possible to steal it.

[eliphaslevi]

13. There should be guards and cameras protecting the ballots

Who knows what they may try to pull.

[LostinVA]

19. The Gov and the SOS would NOT allow that

Allen and Rove don't control them.

[humbled_opinion]

11. Should be shou ted out that Allen is trying to be divisive. America

has spoken and obviously doesn't want Republicans in Charge... so stand down... Concede stop the wasteful spending that a recount would cost.

[still_one]

14. Is this the same John o'neil of swift puke fame?

if so, mr. o'neil STFU

[DeepModem Mom]

20. I don't think he writes for the NYT. nt

[still_one]

25. I hope you are right, just doing a sanity check

[kestrel91316]

22. News flash: Faster is not necessarily better. We want an

ACCURATE recount, not a fast one.

Take all the time in the world. We have waited 12 years. We can wait a little longer.

[KamaAina]

27. This gives the Macaca Mafia plenty of time to fudge things

The upstanding citizens of the Commonwealth, and their supporters everywhere, must be on their guard. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty", y'know. Can't have any soggy ballots fished out of the Rappahannock River, not when the fate of the Republic itself is at stake.

[electricmonk]

29. A recount won't help Allen

Last year the Attorney General won by 323 votes on election day and a recount showed the actual margin as 360 votes. There's no way Allen can pick up 7000 votes.

From the Library of Va.

On Election Day Delegate Robert McConnell (R) defeated State Senator R. Creigh Deeds (D) by 323 votes (49.96 percent to 49.95 percent). A subsequent recount confirmed McConnell’s victory by 360 votes.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

30. The DNC needs to send lawyers, guns and money and plenty of each right now!

Don't play nice, don't play fair but fight for the all the people who interests are involved in a just outcome of this democratic process. Let's keep this out in the light where the vermin can't get at it like they did in 2000.

[KamaAina]

32. Oh crap. Here's the "gotcha":

After certification, a losing candidate has 10 days to file a recount request in the state courts. The petition will be considered by a panel made up of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court in Richmond and two judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. Those judges then set out guidelines for conducting the recount.

Meet the Chief Justice of the Va. Supreme Court, one Leroy Hassell:

http://www.regent.edu/news/hassellchiefjustice.html

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., a Norfolk native and Regent University Jurist in Residence, was recently selected Virginia’s Supreme Court Chief Justice. His election occurred under a new law passed by the General Assembly, allowing a majority vote over seniority for selection.

Regent "University" is what used to be known as "CBN University". So what this means is that Marion G. "Pat" Robertson's own personal "jurist in residence" will hand-pick two of the three "judges" who will eventually determine Macaca's - and the nation's -- fate. :scared:

[Theres-a]

35. %@#&!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:scared:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

36. Follow the link, though.

He went to UVa and Harvard Law.

[KamaAina]

38. Plus, he's African American

At Regent, loyalty to Marion G. "Pat" Robertson, the Republican Party, and God (in that order) supposedly trumps everything else -- but Justice Hassell might understandably be somewhat reticent about saving the ass of a man who once displayed a noose in his law office. :P

I'm not doubting his qualifications, merely his loyalties. It is possible to be a highly qualified jurist and still be relentlessly partisan (see under Scalia, Antonin).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

39. Which isn't supposed to make a difference.

.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

33. Barely over half the registered voters showed up.

http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/index.htm

Registered Voters: 4,555,582 Total Voting: 2,367,478 Voter Turnout: 51.97 %

[mahatmakanejeeves]

34. Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money.

I know; someone has already said it. But I wanted to add a link to the lyrics.

Lawyers, Guns and Money

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this, ha
....

Now I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The (macaca's) hit the fan

The download here is said to be legal:

Warren Zevon

[mahatmakanejeeves]

37. "Count Every Vote" Means "Count Every Vote"

If it's sauce for the goose, it's sauce for the gander. What you said in 2000 should apply now.