Cash-short recount bid called off

Republican Sandy Welch is dropping her request for a recount in the state Superintendent of Public Instruction race that she narrowly lost to incumbent Democrat Denise Juneau.

The Montana Republican Party announced Tuesday that it has not raised enough money to cover the costs of a recount in the state Superintendent of Public Instruction race.

Welch, a Martin City resident, had been pursuing a recount ever since the Nov. 6 election.

She lost to Juneau by 2,231 votes, a margin that was thin enough to qualify her for a recount.

“Sandy deserves a recount,” Republic Party Executive Director Bowen Greenwood said in a press release. “Montana’s judicial system has found that there were significant errors in the execution of the 2012 election. Those errors may very well have cost Sandy the opportunity to serve. More to the point, they may have cost the people of Montana the opportunity to have a supremely qualified public employee.”

Greenwood was referring to last week’s proceedings in Flathead District Court, where Judge Stewart Stadler ruled that Welch had shown adequate probable cause that election irregularities in six counties warranted a statewide hand recount.

During those proceedings, Welch’s legal counsel requested that an estimated recount cost of $115,000 be reduced to around $51,000 because there was wide disparity in the per-voter recount costs from one county to the next.

A lawyer representing Juneau argued that the $115,000 amount was the result of estimates provided by election administrators from Montana’s 56 counties.

Stadler ruled that $115,000 would be necessary, and he required Welch to post bond for that amount by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Welch said she was disappointed in the outcome, but “when push comes to shove, you have to have cash in the bank.”

She said the total recount cost actually would have exceeded $200,000 because of legal fees.

“Unfortunately, the price was simply too high,” Greenwood said. “We hoped that the court would lower the bond. There was good cause to believe that might be the case. When there are errors on the part of a Democrat chief elections official, it is not right that a Republican candidate should have to pay $100,000 to correct them.”

Greenwood was referring to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, a Democrat.

“Our donors stepped up to the plate very generously,” Greenwood added. “In the end it wasn’t quite enough. The party will not be able to post a bond for Sandy Welch’s recount. We will spend the money that came in to partially compensate a legal team, who won an important victory with the finding that there were errors in how our election laws were followed.”

In her application to the court, Welch cited problems including ballot counting machines jamming and having software problems; election administrators allowing voters to use photocopied ballots rather than replacing them as required by law; and election officials using markers or stickers to correct errors on “spoiled” ballots instead of replacing them.

In a Tuesday afternoon press release, McCulloch said she agrees with Stadler’s finding that no harm to the state could result from a recount paid for by Welch, and that she too is disappointed there won’t be one.

“We were ready, counties were ready. We are confident that a recount would not have changed the race results, but we were ready to do one,” she said. “A lot of public time and resources have been spent preparing for the huge task of conducting a statewide recount of more than 468,000 ballots cast in the race.”

She praised the “cooperative and professional” election officials across the state who would have presided over the recount.

“They do an admirable job ensuring the integrity of each election and I am proud of their efforts,” she said.

Juneau told The Associated Press on Tuesday she was glad to have the threat of a recount behind her so she can concentrate on getting ready for the upcoming Legislative session.

“I’m looking forward to the next four years and doing great things for public education,” she said.

Juneau declined to comment on Welch’s reasons for withdrawing other than to say she never had doubts that the results from Election Day would stand.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.