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Recount yields same outcome
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by Courtney Johnson
Friday, December 1, 2006
No election outcomes have changed following this week's recount of four disputed state Assembly races.
The race between two-term incumbent Rep. Debi Towns, R-Janesville, and her Democratic challenger, Kim Hixson of Whitewater, was the closest of the four recounts. Following election night, Hixson appeared to have won the seat by nine votes — roughly half of a percentage point. After the recount, finished by the State Elections Board Thursday afternoon, Hixson won by 38 votes.
"Obviously [Towns is] not happy with the results, but it was something that needed to be done," said Heather Shea, legislative assistant for Towns. "I think any normal person would have gone through a recount at that stage."
Three other Assembly recounts were completed Tuesday. Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, defeated Democrat Meagan Yost of Poynette. Three-term incumbent Rep. Judy Krawczyk, R-Green Bay, was defeated by Democrat Jim Soletski, and Rep. Lee Nerison, R-Westby, defeated Democrat Gail Frie of Viroqua.
The recount results come three weeks after Election Day Nov. 7.
"There's a delay because the county has to certify the results before [candidates] can ask for [a recount], and then the recount process is a time-consuming process," said Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the State Elections Board.
Kennedy said the recount process takes so much time because election workers have to look at each ballot's paper record, verify the number of voters, review the voter list and account for all absentee ballots.
Despite the large workload that comes with recounts, it is reasonable for Towns to request a recount due to the relatively small number of voters in her race, according to Charles Franklin, University of Wisconsin political science professor.
"It makes very little sense to ask for a recount when the margin is in the thousands of votes," Franklin said. "Anything that's down under 50 votes, absolutely a recount makes sense."
Franklin added the small percentage Towns lost by is not necessarily a reason to call for a recount. In more populous states, one half of a percent can equal several thousand people.
"When we're talking about a Wisconsin race with a 10, 20, 30 vote margin, there is enough uncertainty … that it actually makes a lot of sense for [Towns] to ask for a recount in this case," he said.
Kennedy agreed the time spent performing the recount was worthwhile because it will provide more confidence in the results.
"It's a very painstaking, time-consuming process, but the purpose of it is to ensure to the candidates what the outcome was," he said.
