Recount Sought in Nevada Race
At a Nov. 30 news conference in Las Vegas, Mr. Ensign said he has raised the $59,000 needed to reimburse election officials for the cost of the recount, which is expected to be completed by Dec. 14. He is still looking for money to pay staff to monitor the recount in each of Nevada’s 17 counties.
Mr. Ensign and state Republican Party officials blame ballot-counting problems rather than fraud for the close result in the Nov. 3 race. The outcome was not known until Nov. 12 because of problems in counting absentee ballots in Washoe County, which includes Republican-rich Reno. Because Mr. Ensign won by more than 2,000 votes there, Republicans hoped a recount of nearly 6,000 mail-in ballots would allow him to overtake the incumbent.
“I think Ensign owed it to his backers to ask for a recount to ensure that everything is copacetic,” said Daryl Capurro, managing director of the Nevada Motor Transport Assn. “There is still some question about Washoe County, and it’s such a minuscule amount, less than one-tenth of 1%, that we need to make sure.”
The recount request came five days after the Nevada Supreme Court declared Mr. Reid the official winner. According to county voting records certified by the court, Mr. Reid received 208,621 votes and Mr. Ensign received 208,220 votes.
Mr. Capurro said he doubts Mr. Reid’s election will be overturned “I think it will be tough to overcome 401 votes in this day and age. Nobody’s charging election fraud as of yet, but to lay everyone’s mind at ease, it’s necessary to confirm it.”
The election was closely watched by trucking executives because of Mr. Reid’s opposition to triple- trailer trucks. American Trucking Associations and several trucking companies put a combined $200,000 into television commercials educating Nevada residents about Mr. Ensign’s voting record.
