Jett still wins in Spotsy recount

By DAN TELVOCK

The three judges impaneled for the recount of the Spotsylvania County Circuit Court clerk's race yesterday wore their traditional robes, but they weren't in their typical setting.

At the Marshall Center, they sat at two plastic tables pushed together in front of a black chalkboard, inside an old classroom that had paper clips hanging from the ceiling.

After three hours, Circuit Court judges Harry T. Taliaferro (Spotsylvania), Pamela S. Baskervill (Petersburg) and Cleo E. Powell (Chesterfield) recertified Christy Jett as the winner over incumbent Paul Metzger.

With that, the first recount of a local race in Spotsylvania history came to a close.

More than 20 local election officials tabulated the same number of votes that were reported for the two candidates on Nov. 6: Jett won 7,420 votes to Metzger's 7,357 votes.

"I think everything was fair and I appreciate all the workers who came out and participated in the process for the little pay they get," said Jett, who was sworn in yesterday afternoon. "I am looking forward to serving the residents of Spotsylvania County."

Metzger remained upbeat and congratulated Jett. He'll do consulting work when he leaves the post this month, he said. For Metzger, the recount brought finality for those who were concerned about the closeness of the race.

"It's been an honor and privilege to serve as clerk for the last eight years," he said. "I believe I left the office in better shape than when I found it."

Before the recount started, the three judges had to approve the process.

In Spotsylvania, most voters used Direct-Recording Electronic machines to vote. These machines print out what looks like a long cash register receipt.

Jeannie Dahnk and William Glover, Metzger's attorney, argued that the DRE machines malfunction during elections. They asked an expert to review the machine software to ensure no votes were lost.

Jett's attorney, Mark Gardner, argued that there is no authority in state law to allow for an expert. The judges agreed, and said state law guides them in the strict recount process.

The judges created five teams of election officials, each with a captain.

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By DAN TELVOCK

Ever wonder why it took so long this year to get the election results?

Direct-Recording Electronic voting machines are supposed to allow for votes to be counted faster through a wireless card that tabulates all the votes from a precinct on one printout.

But when the General Assembly passed a law earlier this year that prohibited wireless communication while polls are open, the election workers had a printout from each machine to tabulate, not just one. The county has 145 DRE machines for 25 precincts.

Critics raise several concerns about the machines. One is that votes could be lost or changed by a software glitch. A review of the incident reports for Spotsylvania's 25 precincts found that 22 reported some type of problem with the voting machines.

Critics also believe the software can be hacked.

Another concern is there is no "paper trail" of the votes cast, such as with an optical scan machine, where the ballots on which people voted can be compared with the results from the machine.

Supporters say that any hacking of the computer code would be visible during review of the machines. And poll workers would know if the vote count was incorrect if the poll books didn't match the voter counters on the DRE machines.

Jeannie Dahnk, Paul Metzger's attorney, asked the three-judge recount panel yesterday for an expert to review the DRE software to ensure votes were not lost in the Nov. 6 election.

Herbert Pritchett has worked 31 years of elections in Spotsylvania County. He's the person poll workers call when the DRE machines malfunction. He said the machines work well but there are some issues. But those glitches don't erase votes because that would show up in the review.

"It's like any type of machinery," he said. "You're going to have some problems with them. I like them. I think they do exactly what they are supposed to do, which is count votes. I think we proved that today."

State law also prohibits purchasing any new DRE machines because of the controversy. Existing machines will eventually be phased out, according to the state law.

Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438dtelvock@freelancestar.com

Read more stories about Spotsylvania
Date published: 12/18/2007

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