GOP to halt St. Joseph County assessor, clerk recounts

December 01, 2010|Tribune Staff Report

SOUTH BEND – Republican Party Chairman Chris Riley announced today that the party plans to withdraw its petition to recount ballots in the clerk and assessor races.

A recount commission comprised of two Republican members, two Democratic members and a bi-partisan chairman began counting ballots in both races on Nov. 21.

Riley said Wednesday that counting stopped in the assessor race Monday with about 33 percent of the ballots counted after it become clear Republican Randy Clark lacked the votes to defeat Democrat Rosemary Mandrici.

In fact, Mandrici actually picked up 12 votes, Riley said, increasing her lead over Clark to 224 votes.

Counting in the clerk race, meanwhile, ended about 2 p.m. Wednesday, he said, with about 50 percent of the ballots counted.

In that race, Republican Cindy Bachota picked up 2 votes, Riley said, but still trailed Democrat Terri Rethlake by 75 votes overall.

"There were many, many aberrations," Riley said. "Many of them were resolved in favor of the Democratic candidate, and many of them were resolved in favor of the Republican candidate. And at the end of the day, we basically maintained the status quo."

Despite the outcome, Riley said he does not regret pursuing the recounts.

"Verifying the integrity of the system was worth it," he said, "and learning about the weaknesses in the system and the things that can be corrected going forward."

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