CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Primary election canvassing for Kanawha County continues Tuesday, but some candidates are asking for a recount.
Some very close races have prompted two candidates to file for a recount. It came down to just one vote for incumbent Ward 8 councilman Robert Sheets. A canvass on Monday found businesswoman Kathy Rubio held on to the win. Commissioner Ben Salango says there were only five eligible ballots to be counted, stating three of the ballots were actually cast by poll workers who lived in Ward 11, making them ineligible under West Virginia law to vote for a candidate in Ward 8.
The fourth ballot didn’t vote for the city council race, and the fifth ballot didn’t vote for Mr. sheets or Ms. Rubio. But sheets says he’s still counting on three of those ballots:
“Canvas said we’re out one vote. But there were 3 provisional ballots that were…well they weren’t tossed out. They were counted, but not the 8th ward votes.”
Salango says Sheets has a right to a recount. “The result between Mr. Sheets and Ms. Rubio did not change; she still prevailed by one vote. Now, he’s entitled to a recount, certainly, we’ll honor that request and as soon as all the paperwork is filed, we’ll get on it,” says Salango.
The other candidate requesting a recount is Charleston City Council at large candidate Corey Zinn. He was originally out of a spot in the November election by 19 votes, but after a canvas yesterday, that number has dropped to 28 votes. Zinn argues everyone has a right to a recount.
“One vote for Robert Sheets, 28 for me. And out of tens of thousands of voters and we want to verify that these results are in fact accurate because when was the last time we actually have done a recount?”
The way the recounts work is the candidates will have to pay a fee and then decide whether they want the recount by hand or machine and then get the final results. The process can take up to two weeks.