Hall said. "The state should be providing uniform standards - that is their job, and that is what HAVA is about. If counties get to choose how it is done, the state is very likely going to get sued."
The state should have had uniform standards in place on Jan. 1. "Putting in guidelines [after the fact] is very problematic," Hall said. "It's not like nobody has done this before. They could have looked at how other states did it."
As for Cragun's suggestion that paper ballot can be ignored except in extreme situations, "The [Utah state] law suggests the paper ballot is the official ballot," Hall said. "This issue may have to be litigated to determine the answer."
Michael Vu is director of Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Ohio, which uses the same machines as Utah, down to the paper backup. "We have directives from the secretary of state's office on how to do a recount," he said. Ohio counties recount 3 percent of all the paper ballots cast in the race. Then, they check the paper summaries from the voting machines on the other 97 percent of the ballots and compare it to the electronic results.
"We have to use the paper record here. The secretary of state said, 'This is how elections are going to be recounted,' " said Vu, who was Salt Lake County's election manager until 2003.
Recount Confusion:
The problem in brief: The new voting machines that seemed to work well during last week's primary election could generate big problems in races close enough for a recount because of a lack of uniform procedure.
What the law says: State law suggests that paper records of electronic votes come into play in recounts. It requires new voting machines to produce a permanent paper record that "shall be available as an official record for any recount or election contest."
What's at stake: State election law allows candidates to request a recount, at government expense, whenever the margin of victory is equal to or less than one vote per precinct. At least three races could be subject to recounts if the vote count holds in official canvasses next week.
- Sources: County Clerks, State Elections Office, Utah State Code
Three elections qualify for vote recounts
County races that face possible recounts include:
Salt Lake County:
State House Dist. 42
Jim Bird 981
Peggy Wallace (inc.) 957
Difference: 24 votes
Precincts: 31
Piute County
Commission B
Travas Blood 236
Bill Sudweeks 233
Difference: 3 votes
Precincts: 5
Wayne County
Commission A
Derae Fillmore 291
Newell Harward 286
Difference: 5 votes
Precincts: 12
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4017584
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Kathy Dopp
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