Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, an independent candidate for president who garnered less than 1 percent of the vote in Nevada, filed late Tuesday for a recount of a sample of the state’s presidential ballots. De La Fuente identified 93 precincts to be recounted and paid $14,154.98 to the secretary of state’s office ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline to cover the cost. In the November election, De La Fuente came in dead last in the presidential contest on the Nevada ballot, even trailing “None of these candidates.” He received just 2,552 votes, or 0.23 percent. Democratic contender Hillary Clinton won Nevada with 47.9 percent of the vote, beating Republican President-elect Donald Trump by a little more than 2 percent. In a statement Tuesday, De La Fuente said he ran in the Democratic presidential primary, then ran in the general election in various states as an independent and as the nominee of both the Reform Party and the American Delta Party in “an effort to champion election reform.” Under state law, the secretary of state’s office has five days to complete a recount of the precincts requested — two each in Carson City, Douglas, Mineral and Nye counties and the rest in Clark County, the state’s population hub and home to about 2 million people.
If the recount shows a discrepancy equal to or greater than 1 percent for either De La Fuente or Clinton, a full recount of all ballots in the state will be ordered, said Wayne Thorley, elections deputy for the secretary of state’s office. “If it shows yes there was a discrepancy, we’ll recount the entire state,” Thorley said.
De La Fuente also filed a petition last week requesting a recount in Wisconsin, but later withdrew it after Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, filed a petition there and telegraphed plans to file also in Michigan and Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, his campaign said it would instead ask for recounts in Nevada and Florida.
Stein missed deadlines and was not on Nevada’s Nov. 8 ballot, and therefore was ineligible to request a recount here.
Full Article: Independent candidate files for recount of sample of Nevada presidential ballots | Las Vegas Review-Journal.