Democrats have declared victory in the race for Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, but GOP nominee Rick Saccone has not conceded — and Republicans have taken some tentative steps toward seeking a recount. Attorneys for Saccone have asked for “immediate injunctive relief” in federal court after a campaign lawyer was not allowed to observe the counting of ballots in Allegheny County, where Democrat Conor Lamb won massively. They sent letters to election offices in Allegheny and the district’s other counties requesting that ballots and voting machines be preserved, a step often taken before a recount or challenge. “We are waiting for provisional ballots to be counted,” said Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “We are not ruling out a recount.”
… There is no automatic recount provision for federal elections in Pennsylvania, and Republicans would have to pay for any new request to count votes. A party must first gather signatures to request a recount; Murren said that Republicans had not pulled petitions for that process. Their first move, asking to “impound” the machines, might not lead to a recount at all.
“It’s no different than the usual post-election procedure, when these machines are locked away,” Murren said. “It sounds really good to say, ‘We’ll have those machines impounded,’ but it’s pretty ordinary.”
Full Article: Republicans hint at recount in Pennsylvania congressional race – The Washington Post.