KEYSER, W.Va. (WV News) — A hand-count that took most of the day Tuesday produced the exact same results as the computerized count on election night in Mineral County’s portion of the race for the newly-created House of Delegates District 88.
The district includes portions of eastern and western Mineral County, as well as a chunk of Hampshire County, and the combined results after the May 16 canvass showed Rick Hillenbrand of Hampshire County ahead of Keith Funkhouser of Mineral County by a mere four votes.
The candidates requested a recount in both Mineral and Hampshire, but later withdrew the request in Hampshire County.
County clerk Eric Strite speculated that the withdrawal might have had something to do with the fact that Hampshire County has used its current computerized vote counting system for two years now, while this was the first election for Mineral’s new system.
On Tuesday, Mineral County clerk Lauren Ellifritz noted that there was “a lot more at stake” in the recount than just the outcome of the race.
“Obviously, this is very important for the two candidates, but … we have brand new equipment and the results will have a lot to do with voter confidence,” she said.
Following the conclusion of the recount, Ellifritz said she was very pleased with the recount, which proved that the new equipment had worked perfectly.
“The voters can be confident in the equipment,” she said.
Tuesday’s recount process, however, was a tedious one. Each ballot — whether a paper ballot or computerized version — had to be counted and verified by hand.
While Commissioner Roger Leatherman read off the name, Commissioner Jerry Whisner verified it and placed it on a scanner that projected that portion of the ballot onto a movie screen in the courtroom.
Both candidates were present and kept their own count as the names were called. If one of them had a question, or found a discrepancy, the counting was halted until the problem was solved.
That had to be done for each of the nine precincts that comprise Mineral County’s portion of the district.
At the end of each precinct, the numbers were tallied and matched up with what the candidates had and what the voting machines had reported.
The process took a little under six hours.
Funkhouser maintained his easy lead in Mineral County, with 671 votes to Hillenbrand’s 311.
In Hampshire County, Hillenbrand had 492 votes to 128 for Funkhouser.
Stephen Smoot of Old Fields had actually came in second in Hampshire County, with 175 votes.
Once both counties were totaled, however, it came down to Hillenbrand in the lead with 803 votes to Funkhouser’s 799.
With no candidate on the Democratic ballot for District 88, Hillenbrand is virtually ensured the seat in the November election.
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