Former state Sen. Lou Correa — who lost his bid for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to Andrew Do by a 43-vote margin — has officially sought a recount of last Tuesday’s special election, according to the L.A. Times.
In a statement Monday night, Correa wrote that (according to the O.C. Register):
- He “does not necessarily expect” the recount to change the final result.
- If ballots were cast illegally in the election and were erroneously counted in the original canvass of the votes, a recount cannot ‘undo’ those votes and remove them from the vote count
- Conversely, a recount generally cannot result in adding any votes to the tally that were erroneously rejected in the original vote count.
Correa also said that he “wants to follow-up on a series of alleged irregularities to assure his supporters and the public that the election was free and fair.”
Despite the small margin, the recall may be a long shot. Do, an attorney, was one of the strategists responsible for Janet Nguyen’s 3-vote victory in 2007 following a similarly tight special election race, a recount and several court challenges, according to KPCC.
The OC Political Blog wrote that “Do’s 43-vote victory is simply too large a margin for Correa to overcome. I don’t blame Correa for trying, because 43 votes out of 48,626 cast in 101 precincts is tantalizingly close, but he just won’t be able to pull it off.”
Ironnically Do was sworn in this morning at the steps of the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana.
I also doubt the recount will do anything other than waste more of Correa’s campaign money. It is a waste of time and resources. He did not lose on Election Day. He lost when he refused to attack Do.
