Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Most Eyes On the Primary Results For Arizona AG

Both the Democratic and Republican nominees for Arizona Attorney General are still unknown after election night results are tallied.  The early ballots (received by mail in the past few days and dropped off at polling places on Tuesday) may or may not make the results clearer.  At this point (state figures last updated at 5:55a.m.), a required recount would not be conducted on either the Republican or Democratic side.

Here are the current numbers:  Republicans:  (State Schools Supt.) Tom Horne is leading (fmr. Maricopa County Atty.) Andrew Thomas by 0.08% (373 votes);  469,533 Republican ballots have been counted so far.  Democrats: (Fmr. Assistant AG) Felecia Rotellini is ahead of (fmr. State Rep.) David Lujan by 0.54% (1,350 votes); counted Democratic votes to date total 248,488.  (Neither the Green Party nor the Libertarian Party posted a candidate.)

Arizona law REQUIRES a recount if the candidates are separated by less than one-tenth of a percent of the votes cast for those two candidates, or 200 votes - whichever is the lesser number.  If the differential between the two candidates is in between the 200 and the 0.10%, there would not be a required recount, but the official result may be more likely to be the subject of a legal challenge.  (For percentage purposes, the current numbers are 0.07% on the Republican side, and 0.66% on the Democratic.)

Of course, any elector can file a court challenge against the primary election results (within 5 days after official canvass/declaration of results). 

We'll all keep an eye on this one together.

(edited to clarify the 200 vote differential)

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