Election one vote short of recount

Stacey L. Hailey is proof that every vote counts -- so long as they are counted.

The incumbent town councilman in the Campbell County community of Brookneal lost a race for re-election on Nov. 4 by three votes. If the margin had been two votes, Hailey said he could have demanded a recount.

And that, says Hailey, is the reason why a federal judge should count military absentee ballots that are now the subject of a lawsuit.

Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., R-5th, made a similar plea Thursday. In an upset, he apparently lost his congressional seat to Democrat Tom Perriello by 745 votes. That was less than one-half of 1 percent of the votes cast and triggered a recount.

Perriello agreed. Military votes should be counted, the two men said.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Williams said Monday that the State Board of Elections erred when several local registrars mailed absentee ballots to service personnel overseas too late for them to meet the absentee ballot voting deadline.

At the judge's order, about 4,500 late-arriving absentee ballots are being held by the State Board of Elections. But the judge did not order them to be counted. He said the question is moot because the election results have been certified by the State Board of Elections.

Hailey said there may be three votes for him in those 4,500 ballots, although he acknowledged the Brookneal area does not have a National Guard unit overseas.

"If you don't count those votes, you are telling those military people that their votes don't really matter," Hailey said. "They are over there fighting for our country."

Hailey was seeking a second, four-year term on the Campbell County town's council. Three seats were up for election. Hailey trailed the third-place finisher by three votes, 126 to 123.

Because the 5th District congressional race is subject to a recount, Goode said the election results have not been certified, so the votes can still be counted. The three-judge recount court will decide the outcome next Wednesday.

According to federal court testimony, the absentee ballots in dispute do not have enough 5th District voters to change the outcome.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .