Sen. Jim Brochin
State Sen. Jim Brochin, who lost the Democratic primary race for county executive by a razor-thin margin, said Friday evening he’ll petition for a recount. He lost to former state delegate John Olszewski Jr. by just nine votes.
“I don’t see how we couldn’t,” Brochin said by phone. “For nine votes you have to be certain. And if we lose we’ll accept it and be adults and move on.”
Under state law, if the final votes show a result in which two candidates are within 0.1 percent of each other, either candidate can formally request a recount and his or her campaign would not have to pay for it. There are four types of recounts, according to the state Board of Elections:
- Option 1: A manual tabulation of printed reports from early voting, election day and the absentee and provisional ballot canvasses. Printed reports from precinct tabulators and high speed scanners (if available) are examined and manually tabulated
- Option 2: A re-scan of voted paper ballots involved in the recount using precinct tabulators or high speed scanner (if available) to reproduce early voting, precinct or absentee or provisional ballot canvass totals
- Option 3: A manual recount of voted paper ballots involved in the recount
- Option 4: A manual recount of ballot images of voted ballots involved in the recount
Brochin, who has never lost an election before, said Friday he wasn’t yet sure which type of recount his team would request.
“This is a first for me,” he said.
At a news conference Friday evening, Olszewski was asked about his slim lead and the potential for a recount.
“We are thrilled to be where we are and we trust the process,” he responded, “and we look forward to tomorrow and to the day after.”