A write-in candidate who barely lost his bid for the Stafford County School Board is asking for a recount, claiming votes for him were erroneously thrown out.
Price Jett Jr. filed a lawsuit Monday in Stafford Circuit Court alleging that a count of all paper ballots may push him ahead of winner Patricia Mancini by at least three votes.
The suit claims some votes weren't counted because people didn't fill in a box indicating they were writing in Jett's name. In all, 250 ballots cast in the George Washington District recorded no vote in the School Board race, the lawsuit says.
Optical scanners malfunctioned at two of the district's precincts, forcing election officials to count votes by hand. That's when observers at the polls saw at least 37 errors, the suit claims.
At the third precinct, the scanner was programmed to not count write-in votes without a mark on the corresponding box, the suit states.
According to the state Board of Elections, Mancini received 1,481 votes and there were 1,424 write-ins. The board did not identify any candidate as the recipient of the write-ins.
Jett's lawsuit claims a recount could give him a 1,483-1,480 victory.
"So many people have called and are concerned their votes are not being counted," said Jett, who says he saw some of the mistakes himself. "My phone has been ringing constantly."
The suit names Mancini as the defendant, which Jett said came at the advice of his lawyer. But "my issue is not at all with Mrs. Mancini."
Meanwhile, Mancini said she's upset at Republican politicians, including House Speaker Bill Howell of Stafford, who she says pressured election officials on behalf of Jett. Howell could not be reached for comment.
Jett said Howell has given him advice. But he said he is unaware of any other assistance from the speaker.
"I'm sorry this happened because I was really hoping to work in a nonpartisan way," Mancini said. "It's about the children."
The suit says Stafford Commissioner of Revenue Scott Mayausky, a Republican, was an observer at one of three precincts and is willing to testify about the voting issues.
An off-duty King George County deputy, who Jett says was not in uniform, also is ready to testify.
Two members of the county's electoral board declined to comment, while a third could not be reached.
Most School Board members, including Chairman Ed Sullivan--who supported Jett--have publicly congratulated Mancini on her victory. The Stafford school system has paid about $600 for her to attend a three-day conference in Williamsburg.
Mancini, the daughter of the late Fredericksburg School Board member and business owner H. Smith McKann, said she sent Jett a letter of congratulations for his hard-fought campaign.
Bruce Gubser was her original opponent, but he withdrew from the race after unexpectedly moving overseas.
Jett said a lot of his supporters were first-time voters, and he's worried the outcome will cause them to lose faith in the system. He said he thinks many elderly voters wrote in his name but forgot to fill in the corresponding box.
"While a School Board race is important, even more important is making sure that our democracy functions the way it should. The linchpin of that is treating every vote and voter with respect," Jett wrote in an e-mail.
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402| The State Board of Elections has an 11-page document with its standards for recounts posted on its Web site, sbe.virginia.gov. Standards include: If a write-in candidate is party to the recount, the vote shall be counted for the write-in candidate if his name is written on the ballot under that office, even if the write-in square, oval or arrow is not marked, and provided that no other candidate is marked for that office. |