According to an email obtained by VISTA Today, Carolyn Comitta, the West Chester Mayor and candidate for the 156th State House seat, has initiated a recount of the votes in her district. We previously reported that Carolyn lost by a slim margin–just 78 votes. She was challenging incumbent Dan Truitt (R).
But according to her campaign staff, it seems that margin may be closing…
“Some of you may have heard a rumor about the status of the race in the 156th District. We are pleased to report that we have an unexpected update to the outcome,” said Lani Frank in the email.
The email continues.
“On Monday we reviewed the 107 Provisional ballots, (ballots cast on Election Day if a voter was not found on the list of voters, but believed they should be eligible to vote). The Provisional Ballot Board rejected over 80 ballots, but we challenged that determination, hoping to allow every vote to count.”
Following the provisional as well as the overseas / military vote count, Carolyn is ahead by 18 votes. What remains uncounted are 60 some provisional ballots determined by voter services to be ineligible to be counted. The Comitta campaign has challenged the “ineligible” determination on those 60 ballots, with a focus on ensuring all votes cast on election day be counted.
This just might be the closest race in Chester County history. And it’s headed to the Commissioner’s office and possibly the courts.
But let’s be clear: there doesn’t seem to be a clear winner at this point.
According to the Comitta campaign, there will be a hearing next Tuesday in front of the three county commissioners where Comitta’s campaign will argue in favor of all votes cast being counted.
“There will be a hearing on Tuesday, November 22nd to allow the Election Board, made up of the three county commissioners, to hear our argument on why each of those Provisional ballots should be counted. After the outcome of that hearing, we will know what the vote count will be.”
“We feel cautiously optimistic that the outcome will be in our favor,” said Lani Frank in the email.
______
Editor Note: This post was updated at 10:30 AM EST on November 18th for clarity and to correct factual errors.
