The official results for the top two are 18,276 for Peter Shumlin, 18,079 for Doug Racine – a difference of 194 197 in Shumlin’s favor and representing a 12 vote increase in the margin as originally reported. Other numbers: Markowitz – 17,580, Dunne – 15,323, Bartlett – 3,759, for a D turnout of 74,634. Click here for more detail
The Racine campaign has announced a press conference for 3:30 pm at the Richmond Town Center to announce the Senator’s “decision,” as the press release says. Word parsers may consider the implications of using the word “decision” as opposed to something more open-ended, such as “next step.” Senator Racine has indicated he will request a recount.
Other results as they become available.
Update: In other news Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate Martha Abbott has declared that she will withdraw her name from the November ballot, declining the party’s nomination. Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline for such notifications to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division Office.
Progressives had indicated earlier that they might well withdraw after the primary election if the Democrats nominated a candidate with whom they could agree on major issues. With several Progressive candidates for the legislature running as Democrats, there seems to be an increasing recognition that splitting the liberal vote is not a winning strategy.
update Markowitz’s statement:
Although it was not my intention to initiate a recount, I respect Doug’s right to do so under the law. I know this must have been a very difficult decision for him to make. Now the recount process must play itself out according to the law. The recount is overseen by the Washington County Superior Court. I know the courts will proceed as quickly as possible so that the general election campaign can begin in earnest. I know that both Peter and Doug share my values, and the values of most Vermonters, while Brian Dubie does not. Our focus must be to count the votes and move forward quickly so we can beat Brian Dubie and get Vermonters back to work.
update Shumlin’s statement:
Burlington, Vt – “I am encouraged by the unofficial certified numbers released by the Secretary of State today, which show me receiving more votes than the other contenders. Doug is a great candidate who ran a great race. I understand that Doug is going to exercise his legal right to a recount and I respect his decision.”
Update Racine’s statement:
Just a short while ago, I announced that I will request a recount of the primary election results. I spoke with Peter Shumlin earlier today, and he said he would support my decision.
I have heard from hundreds of you in the past few days, and the overwhelming sentiment is that a recount is necessary. In the end, this is about our democratic process. Every Vermonter deserves to know that his or her vote was counted correctly.
With fewer than 200 votes separating Peter and me (that’s less than one vote per town), I owe it to Vermonters to make sure this is the correct outcome.
I will do everything I can to expedite the recount process. In the meantime, I would urge you to get involved in the Vermont Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign, the organization responsible for getting out the Democratic vote for candidates up and down the ballot in November. Thank you for your support.
Congrats to Peter and the entire Schumlin for Gov. campaign. Now, time to take the gloves off and go at Dubie.
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…
Press conference at 3:30 in Richmond Town Center, from facebook:
Congratulations Peter Shumlin, and here is to party unity and moving forward to beat Dubie. Unity supporters get those checks ready. Grassroots volunteers get ready to pound the pavement and make those phone calls.
VPR had the numbers as a 197-vote margin for Shumlin over Racine and 426 over Markowitz.
And, btw, these are termed “unofficial results.” The formal, official results will be out Tuesday when the statewide canvassing board meets to certify the numbers.
And just as an example of what can go wrong, in the county results I helped certify this morning, two towns had discrepancies in their numbers for side judges. One was off by 8 votes, another by 10. The County Clerk noted the discrepancies and passed it along to the SoS/Elections office. The County Clerk said that the towns may be required to file an amended report to account for the divergent numbers.
Each of the three parties was required to send a representative. The Republicans never showed. Part and parcel of their “disdain” for government perhaps?
NanuqFC
The time is always right to do the right thing. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
So, what things can we begin to do immediately to keep the fires stoked while we wait for the recount and the first Dubie/Dem debate – and – has anyone yet estimated the time this is going to take?
(sighs)
As it should be.
As I have stated time and time again, I really wanted Deb to win. With that said . . . .
IMHO this shows very poor judgment on Doug’s part. Haik Bedrosian of http://www.burlingtonpol.com fame just posted this comment on BLURT – ”
“Well I guess my prediction that there would be no recount was wrong. Kinda makes that “unity” rally look like a joke. I’m sure Doug Racine has made Brian Dubie very happy today.” http://bit.ly/9DF1fz
I couldn’t agree with him more.
Instead of fighting Dubie, we are just going to be fighting ourselves for the next 3-4 weeks. And how is anyone going to raise $$$$?
You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them. Doug got the straight-flush and Pete got the royal flush. No aces are going to be found lying around on the floor as Odum already described.
Best,
Ed
http://twitter.com/CouncilorAd…
Who had the Dubie cut out? I say drag it to the town hall and let’s start the debate. Who wants to play the part of the “mystery dem” and ask the first question?
Here’s my suggestion for an opener:
“So, Brian, can you really count to ten?”
Has has been stated, the law and process does not require recounds (as it does in some states) it merely allows for one to be requested. We have a lot of things that society allows us to do, but that for one reason or another we decide it is better not to partake.
Check out the newest version (including the 2010 leg amendments) of the recount law at the Secretary of State’s website here – http://bit.ly/bLw1Pr
Now focus on 17 VSA 2601 – 2602k.
Here are some highlights –
1) “A petition for a recount shall be filed within 10 days after the election. The petition shall be filed with the superior court, Washington County, in the case of candidates for state or congressional office . . . . The petition shall be supported, if possible, by a certified copy of the certificate of election prepared by the canvassing committee, verifying the total number of votes cast and the number of votes cast for each candidate.” 2602(b)
2) “The superior court shall set an early date for the recount, notifying all candidates at least five days in advance.” 2602(c)
You can see that Doug was not clear about whether certain provisions of the law could be waived in his speech – http://bit.ly/cjOvjF
Lets assume that the law means what it says and the petition needs to be accompanied by the canvasing committee certification. That is on Tuesday. Then the court as to give candidates at least 5 days notice. Presumably this is business days, so that would mean that the earliest the recount could start would be on 9/8 since the 4th and 5th are weekend days and the 6th is a holiday.
Looking at all of the other procedures that need to be followed, it looks like at least 10 days. Would that include weekends? Lets say not for argument’s sake and the counters go 10 days straight from 9/8. That puts us to Sept. 18th before we know who the candidate is going to be. That is 3 weeks. I hope my time calculations are wrong.
Best,
Ed
VPT Vermont This Week airing 1-hour live special tonight (7:30 pm – 8:30 pm; re-airing Sunday at 11:30 am):
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What if all five candidates used this time during the recount to take on Dubie – each in their own way??
Alright maybe not Bartlett because she is in Maine – but the other 4 could do that. A united frontal attack. They could each pick their favorite issue and start asking him questions.
What do you think Dubie would do if he had 4 on 1 for a week or two?
This would keep the press and the people engaged. Free publicity!
Vote on:
How does a Democratic Gubernatorial primary election recount harm/help general election prospects? (here; via AllOurIdeas).
In addition, add your own ideas via the submission form found on the above page.
which one(or all) of those in contention will step-up and take the fight to Dubie even as the counting continues?
It could be like money in the bank to keep the fight alive.
It’s a good thing that Doug called for a recount, and it’s great that Judy Bevans is supportive of his choice.
Not only is the race within only a 200 vote spread between Racine and Shumlin, but there has been plenty of evidence that there are some discrepancies in the count, and I’ve heard that some absentee ballots haven’t even been counted. This is significant with only 200 votes separating the frontrunners, and as a voter I would feel hard done by if we didn’t do everything we could to be sure that the vote tallies were accurate.
Vermont already has a pretty low rating for government transparency, and clarity has to start with the election process itself. ‘Party unity’ is a sham if the Democrats can’t agree on a cause as clearly good as government transparency! I’d like to see a Democratic party united in their commitment to fair and transparent elections, and good on Doug for leading the charge.
As a Dunne supporter, my candidate won’t win in this recount, but at least I’ll feel better as a voter knowing that every precaution was taken to make sure the election was fair.
By the way, besides the Vermont Democratic primary vote recount making either Peter Shumlin or Doug Racine the nominee (Deb Markowitz’s chances are perceived as highly doubtful by most political observers), as highly unlikely as the odds of such occurring were said to be for the primary election, the fourth potential result — no one else seems to be mentioning as a possibility — could be a tie (emphasis mine):
Just saying …