Margaret Donnelly Asks Secretary of State’s Office for Recount of Attorney General Results
Representative Margaret Donnelly, 2008 candidate for Attorney General in the state of Missouri, today announced her intention to file a formal request for a recount of the Democratic ballots cast in the state’s primary election August 5. Donnelly was second to Senator Chris Koster by a 0.2% margin, with a 794-vote differential out of more than 346,000 votes cast. (Results are still unofficial until they are certified by the Secretary of State.) With the smallest margin in a statewide race in Missouri history, a one-vote swing in as few as 25% of the precincts in the state would result in a Donnelly victory.
“Voting is the heart of the democratic process, and we are pursuing a recount as that is the fairest way possible to make sure the people’s voice through the election is most accurately heard,” Ms. Donnelly said. “I have received encouragement to pursue the recount from an overwhelming number of Democratic primary voters. At this stage the recount becomes a legal procedure.”
Lathrop Gage L.C. has been hired to represent the Donnelly campaign in this matter. Member Richard Rhyne of the firm’s Kansas City office has served as chair of the Donnelly for Attorney General Greater Kansas City-Area Steering Committee, and has handled election recount matters in his legal practice.
“Lathrop Gage has handled election recounts like this many times before,” Ms. Donnelly said. Counted among those matters would be the Dolan v. Powers recount of the Johnson County, Missouri Auditor’s race, a precedent-setting case that set the standard for election recounts since Missouri enacted the Uniform Counting Standards. “As candidates are able to request a recount whenever their losing margin is less than 1 percentage point, and given the slim margin separating the candidates at the top, we feel it is in the best interest of the state and of all those who voted to make sure there is no error in tabulating the final results and that the votes of all citizens are counted for this important race.”