Will Candidates Get Answers Before Election is Certified?

On election night, five votes separated Ron Alcock and Chip Capraro on the machine counts. That result was affirmed by Republican Commissioner Mike Northrup after the post-election machine recanvassing. Those results are still posted on the Election Commission's website.


On Wednesday, November 14th, absentee and affidavit ballots were unsealed and counted. Capraro won that count by a large enough margin to swing the results in his favor, but Northrup emerged from a side room to announce that a 'clerical error' had widened the margin between the candidates and Capraro was actually down nine votes.

In other races in our area, where margins were even wider, candidates have initiated the process of serving papers to impound the machines, recount the ballots, and have a clear explanation of the outcome to be certified by the Board. In keeping with that standard procedure, Democratic Election Commissioner Mary Salotti and her Republican counterpart, Mike Northrup, were served with papers, Wednesday, November 28th.


The documents, prepared by local attorney Sam Bonney, petition that the commissioners not certify the election "until machines used in Ward 4 District 1 are tested and examined per Election Law 9-208 and an explanation in writing is made about the discrepancies in the machine vote."

The petition is supported by three affidavits submitted by voters who describe difficulties in pulling the levers on Row A on a malfunctioning machine that was eventually taken out of service. Complaints were made to poll workers on election day, by two voters over three hours apart. At least 50 voters used that machine between the first and second complaints.

In addition to clarification on the nature of the clerical errors, the petition proposes that there be "both statutory and diagnostic testing, to determine the specific malfunction of the machines."

In previous statements, Northrup said the election would be certified by Monday, December 3rd. Does this mean that these questions will be left unanswered?