Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts, who was declared the loser in a battle for the chairman seat, has hired a consultant to review problems with the primary to see if they warrant requesting a recount.
Pitts tried to unseat incumbent chairman John Eaves in last week’s primary election. He trailed Eaves by just 315 votes, or less than 1 percent of votes cast, in the final, certified tally. The election was so close that, if Pitts picked up just one vote in each of the county’s 365 precincts during a recount, it would change the outcome. But that may prove difficult in an age when most voters cast their ballots on touch screens and votes are tallied by computers.
“I’ve never seen a recount come out different” using the current technology, Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron said Tuesday.
Pitts hired Gary Smith, a consultant who has studied Fulton’s election operations in the past. The commissioner has two days to decide if he will request a recount. He also is considering a court challenge if the consultant finds sufficient problems with the primary result. Among the problems Smith is looking into: long lines at one Atlanta precinct where some voters reportedly gave up and left.
“In a close election even small things get magnified,” said Smith. “What if there had been enough votes cast in that precinct (with long lines) to sway the election?”
Pitts and Eaves are seeking the Democratic nomination for commission chairman. In a solidly Democratic county, whoever wins will be the favorite in the November general election contest against Republican Earl Cooper.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of returns found Pitts won 187 precincts by an average margin of 12 votes in the May 20 election, while Eaves won 155 precincts by an average margin of 17 votes. The candidates were tied in 23 precincts.
Close elections are nothing new for Pitts. In the 2001 Atlanta mayoral race, he came within 191 votes of forcing a primary runoff against fellow Democrat Shirley Franklin. Pitts sought a recount but picked up only a few votes when it was finished. He briefly considered challenging the result in court, but ultimately did not file a challenge. Franklin went on to serve two terms as mayor.
Back then, the county used a punch-card voting technology that sometimes yielded different results when votes were recounted, Barron said. But he’s confident the tally in the current race will stand up to scrutiny.
Pitts isn’t so sure. He cited problems at a polling place at Atlanta’s Fickett Elementary School on Election Day.
Elouise Young of Atlanta said she waited 50 minutes to vote at Fickett and her son waited an hour and a half. Young said she saw three voters give up and leave.
At Tuesday's election board meeting, board member Gerald Durley said he spent time at Fickett on Election Day. He said the precinct needed more voting machines, and he said two of eight workers didn't show up because of health problems in their families. But Durley said he thought the remaining workers handled the situation well. And the county eventually brought in more voting machines.
Overall, Durley said the election “went fairly well” at Fickett, under the circumstances.
Fulton County has a history of botched elections. In November 2012, long lines plagued many precincts, and thousands of voters were forced to cast provisional ballots.
On Tuesday, Barron told the election board that only minor issues surfaced last week. In addition to the lines at Fickett, he said there was some confusion about where to vote and park at a Georgia Tech polling place in Atlanta – a problem he said can be corrected with better signs in the future.
Nonetheless, Pitts hired Smith to review the election. Under state law, Pitts can request a recount because Eaves’ margin of victory is less than 1 percent.
Smith said Pitts also could take the matter to Superior Court if he found enough problems, though he declined to elaborate on what kind of problems could prompt a court challenge.
Fulton County hired Smith to review its election department in 2012. He later issued a report citing management problems and poor planning leading up to that year’s general election.
Smith said Fulton’s performance has improved since then. But he’s still gathering information about last week’s primary that Pitts will consider as he decides whether to request a recount.
Smith said a recount is “a serious step. But the election is very important for this county.”
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