The county's Elections Director Jan F. Clair told a newspaper reporter: she may just return to Cobb and Badnarik their check, covering $10-Per-precinct, to initiate a recount. She's on record saying prosecutors should challenge the frivolous recount request.
Update [2004-11-22 18:27:52 by joan reports]: Ohio's 2pm Update - AP is reporting now that Allen County's voting official might "mobilize fellow counties to resist a recount." The newer article is titled,
'[Allen] Election Official Calls Recount Request Frivolous, Insulting'
'Cost Of Recount Estimated At $1.5 M'
$10 for each precinct falls short of the cost the county will face to recount, Lake County's Clair says, and the recount request is premature until the day the state certifies the numbers. Update - kos-folk who spoke to Clair say she is consulting with lawyers whether to hold the check or return it. See comments below
here and
here by
dnn and
dannynyc.
Lake County's vote edged to Bush, 51% to 49% in 2004, (about 118,000 total presidential-race ballots were cast), and 51% also in 2000 (1% to Buchanan that year, 3% to Nader, 45% to Gore).
The county uses Sequoia AVC Advantage touchscreen machines.
Here's the meat of the earlier News-Herald story on Lake Cty. --full article here--
.... [Lake County Elections Director Jan F. Clair] informed the four-member board that she will return a check to Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb and his counterpart with the Libertarian Party, Michael Badnarik.
They sent money to Lake County to pay for an automatic recount of presidential election ballots in the county.
Their $10 a precinct falls far short of the full cost, Clair said. Additionally, the two third parties can't seek an automatic recount until the state certifies the election.
She also said some prosecutors should challenge this because it could be considered frivolous.
An additional obstacle would be getting the recount completed before the state's electoral college meets Dec. 13, Clair said. The Lake County recount would take two days, Clair said.
-- > Oh, and Lake County will be having an automatic recount for a Property Tax hike that was a close tally. (same article)