Let the recounts begin

Squeaky wheels needed
What is indisputable is that election lawsuits are on the rise. Since the late 1990s, they have jumped from an average of 96 a year to 254, according to a 2005 report by a commission on election reform chaired by former President Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.

Even election reformers concede that all of the problems that could crop up on November 7 won't capture the public's attention unless they occur during close federal or statewide elections, such as the 2004 governor's race in Washington state that ended in a flurry of recounts. Only 18 states have automatic recounts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ohio, for example, requires a recount in any statewide race in which the margin of victory is one-quarter of 1 percent or less of the total vote. If, say, 4.5 million votes were cast in the Senate race between Republican Sen. Mike DeWine and Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown, then an automatic recount would occur if the two candidates' tallies were within 11,250 votes. For House races in Ohio, a recount is automatic if the vote tallies are within one-half of 1 percent of the total vote. Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, and! Florida are among the other states with competitive congressional races that have automatic recount procedures.

In 40 states, defeated candidates can request recounts but must pay much of the cost involved unless they end up winning as a result. In Virginia, a candidate can request a recount only if the candidates' vote totals differ by 1 percent or less. In Tennessee and Missouri, a recount request must be based on a claim that there were irregularities, such as fraud or machine malfunctions, that could have changed the election's outcome.

Reform advocates note that voting debacles are the reason for so much nationwide interest in election administration. "We need continuous squeaky wheels to make sure it never falls off the national radar screen," Rapoport said. He and other reformers fret that if none of this year's high-profile contests is close enough to spark controversy, the public's interest in trying to perfect voting systems will fade.

But as election officials from coast to coast would no doubt say: We should have such worries.

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