Ohio plans recount of some primary votes

Ohio's elections chief wants a fraction of the state's Democratic and Republican presidential primary votes recounted.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is hoping the first-of-its-kind audit will verify there were no major snags in the March 4 election.

Eleven counties have been asked to volunteer for the audit. They would recheck at least 7 percent of the vote by hand. Paper ballots counted by optical scan machines and votes cast on electronic touch-screen machines would be recounted.

"Brunner has proposed eliminating electronic voting before the November general election," James Nash reports for The Columbus Dispatch.

"During her campaign, Secretary of State Brunner talked about elections that could be audited or verified," spokesman Jeff Ortega said, according to the Ohio paper. "This is a further step toward that fulfillment."

The Dispatch article continues, "A 2007 audit of Cuyahoga County's November 2006 election found a number of irregularities, including the loss of some ballots and others that were counted twice. Brunner praised that audit, which was ordered by the county board of elections, and suggested that other checks would be coming to ensure the accuracy of polling across Ohio."

(with wire reports)



