Kucinich Says Rumors Of Errors Should Be Addressed

CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire secretary of state will conduct hand recounts of Tuesday's Democratic and Republican primaries.Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich and lesser-known Republican Albert Howard asked for the primary recounts.Kucinich, who received 1.4 percent of the New Hampshire primary vote said that he is asking for the recount because of what he says are unexplained disparities between hand-counted ballots and machine-counted ballots and rumors online of counting errors.

Kucinich said he doesn't expect the recount to affect the results.

"It is imperative that these questions be addressed in the interest of public confidence in the integrity of the election process and the election machinery," Kucinich said in a written statement.Howard received 44 votes in the Republican primary, according to unofficial results released by the secretary of state's office.Secretary of State Bill Gardner said that Kucinich and Howard must pay for the recounts. State law allows a candidate to request a recount, but if the difference between votes received for the winner and the candidate requesting the recount is greater than 3 percent, the candidate must pay for the recount.If the candidate asking for the recount is then declared the winner or loses by less than 1 percent of the total votes cast, the cost is refunded by the state.Gardner said the last time New Hampshire did a statewide recount of the results of the presidential primary was in 1980.

original link