Mar
15
Written by:
Mark Lavergne
3/15/2010 1:06 PM
The Houston Chronicle reported earlier today that Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston) is requesting a vote recount in the primary bout he lost by 10 votes March 2 to former Rep. Borris Miles.
Edwards filed the paperwork and submitted a $4,400 deposit this morning at the state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Election day results showed Miles with an 11-vote lead. After an early-voting ballot board canvassed provisional and mail ballots, 39 votes were added to the total in the House District 146 race, and Edwards closed the gap by one vote. The tally stands at 5,050 for Miles and 5,040 for Edwards.
The Edwards campaign will cover the cost of the recount unless the outcome of the race changes, in which case the state party would pick up the tab.
Edwards was first elected to the Texas House in 1978, where he served until Miles unseated him in 2006. Edwards returned the favor in 2008.
The article also states Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg called the recount a "waste of money," because with electronic balloting, "there's nothing to recount."
But of the 10,090 votes cast in the Edwards-Miles race, some 1,381 were absentee ballots, which of course are not tabulated electronically.
Another possibility: the votes could have been added incorrectly. Tabulation mistakes are not unheard of.
The Chronicle,/i> endorsed Miles on Feb. 25.