A recount of the vote in Clarksville’s Democratic Primary for Clerk-Treasurer Tuesday trimmed Bob Leuthart’s victory over incumbent Gary Hall by one vote, to 24, with 1,730 votes cast. But Hall’s lawyer, Jack Vissing, who had asked Clark County Circuit Court to order the recount of the May 3 primary, said his client will continue with his challenge of the election results.
A hearing is scheduled July 22 in circuit court on Hall’s claim that special election machines for voters with disabilities weren’t programmed properly and didn’t work on primary day, preventing an undetermined number of voters from casting ballots.
Vissing said he’s surprised other candidates didn’t file a lawsuit contesting the election and calling for a new vote because of the problem. “Anyone who filed one should have the opportunity to set aside the election and go forward,” Vissing said after the recount.
… A three-member commission recounted the vote using machines. The commission was appointed by Clark County Circuit Court Judge Dan Moore. They were Shirley Bell, Gene Coomer and Tony Singleton, all residents of Clarksville.
With Hall, Leuthart and their lawyers watching in the basement of the Clark County Government Building, commission members took the ballots, stored under lock and key since the primary, and ran them through voting machines again. The lawyers took notes as the votes in Clarksville’s 14 precincts were tabulated.
Occasionally, a ballot would get stuck in a voting machine and would be pulled out by one of the commissioners or freed by voting machine technician William Vissing. The ballots that hung up were then smoothed out and run through again.
Clark County Clerk Barbara Haas said she believes the ballots that got stuck were damp, possibly from rain dripping from voters on primary day.
Sherry Lockard, the deputy clerk for voter registration, said that her office received no complaints about voters with disabilities being unable to vote in the primary. She said she told election workers to assist voters with disabilities who requested help.
Full Article: Recount narrows Leuthart victory in Clerk-Treasurer’s Race by one vote | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com.