McCormick adds one vote from Crawford County recount

Meadville Tribune, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
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May 28—It took less than a full day for the Crawford County Board of Elections to complete its recount of votes in the Republican primary race for a U.S. Senate seat.

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman formally ordered a statutorily required statewide recount of the Republican Party primary for U.S. Senate.

The primary race between Dr. Mehmet C. Oz and David H. McCormick, the unofficial first- and second-place finishers, respectively, had vote totals within the one-half of 1 percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under Pennsylvania law.

Statewide, unofficial totals submitted from all 67 counties before the recount had Oz ahead of McCormick by 902 votes. Oz had 419,365 (31.21 percent) and McCormick had 418,463 (31.14 percent).

Under the state order, counties could officially begin their respective recounts as soon as Friday, but had to begin them no later than Wednesday. All 67 counties are required to complete the recount by noon June 7 and must submit their respective results to the Department of State by noon June 8.

In Crawford County, the official recount resulted in a minimal change in numbers in the Republican primary U.S. Senate race.

Crawford County numbers from the official recount were:

—Mehmet C. Oz — 3,288 (unchanged)

—Dave McCormick —3,546 (increase of 1)

—Kathy Barnette — 3,114 (decrease of 2)

—Carla Sands — 666 (unchanged)

—Jeff Bartos — 538 (decrease of 2)

—Sean Gale — 136 (unchanged)

—George Bochetto 98 (unchanged)

"I'm very pleased with the work of the (county) elections staff and the Board of Elections," Soff said. "Things went very smoothly."

The official recount numbers were posted to Crawford County's website Friday afternoon and will be available as well in the Crawford County Board of Commissioners Office at the courthouse in Meadville.

Soff said the Board of Elections is expected to act certify official tabulation results of the primary as well as the recount, unless formal challenges are filed with the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas by Tuesday. The Board of Elections meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the commissioners office to vote to certify the results.