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| Perriello is certified as winner |
U.S. Rep.Virgil Goode Jr. answers questions during a news conference Monday afternoon at his campaign office in Rocky Mount. Goode, who lost the election after the State Board of Elections certified his opponent Tom Perriello as the winner, will seek a recount. (AP) |
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Fifth District U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode Jr. will seek a recount in his close 5th District congressional race with political newcomer Tom Perriello.
During a news conference Monday at his campaign office in Rocky Mount, Goode, R-Rocky Mount, said he will request a recount due to changes in vote totals that have occurred since all precincts reported.
Results from the Nov. 4 election that were certified Monday by the Virginia State Board of Elections show Perriello, a Democrat from Albemarle County, achieved victory over Goode, a six-term incumbent, by 745 votes.
Goode said he will file legal papers to request a recount.
He said 3,200 votes have changed since the morning after the election and that Perriello received an additional 800 votes in Charlottesville after all precincts had reported.
A recount will ensure that each candidate’s tally is comprised only of votes that were properly and lawfully cast, Goode said.
“Over 316,000 votes were cast in this election,” Goode said. “The morning after election night, with all precincts reporting, we were ahead by 446 votes.”
“Since that time, over 3,200 votes have changed — the largest changes coming from cities and counties that voted for my opponent. Now, we are trailing by 745 votes in the certified count,” he said of his campaign.
Goode said the fluctuations may be due to “human error ... failure to count the votes accurately.”
The six-term congressman said he has lawyers working on his plans for the recount. He refused to say if he thinks there has been wrongdoing in the vote counting.
During the past few weeks, he said, “voters from across the 5th District have encouraged me to seek a recount.”
The 5th District stretches from Charlottesville to Danville and includes 22 counties and cities.
State-certified election results show Perriello received 158,712 votes while Goode received 157,967 votes. Perriello won with 50.08 percent of the vote, and Goode received 49.85 percent, a difference of 0.23 percentage points.
Goode said a factor that may have caused Perriello to get so many votes was a huge turnout at the polls by students at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Because Perriello is from Albemarle County, Goode will file a recount petition with the Albemarle County Circuit Court, in compliance with state law for recounts. The challenging candidate seeking a recount must file a petition with the circuit court where the candidate being challenged lives.
The chief judge of the circuit court where the recount petition is filed and two other judges who will be appointed by the chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court will make up the recount court.
The three-judge recount court will oversee the recount process.
In an election as close as the 5th District race, with thousands of vote changes occurring during the post-election canvassing process, a recount is an important protection for the voters, Goode said.
“It ensures that each ballot that was lawfully cast in the election is counted, and that the votes are accurately tallied,” he said.
Goode said he faces an “uphill battle” in overcoming 745 votes in the recount, but he thinks it is his obligation to his supporters to ask for one.
“The result may not change,” he said, but he wants to ensure that the process is completed.
Goode declined to comment on whether he will again seek political office if the recount upholds Perriello’s victory, or what his next career might be.
“There are plenty of things to do,” he said. “I’ll think about that after the first of the year.”
He said he thinks all absentee ballots by military personnel should be counted, even those that arrived after Nov. 4, but the issue is before the courts.
“They’re protecting our right to vote in this country,” he said of the military. “They should be able to vote” and have their votes counted.
After the state board certified the 5th District congressional race results Monday, the Perriello campaign said in a statement that “we respect Virgil Goode’s right to ask for a recount and we are confident the recount will not alter the outcome of this race.”
The statement said the official canvassing process that occurred “in the days immediately following the election was extensive, thorough, and overseen by representatives of both parties.”
Perriello said that while the recount is occurring, he will be focusing on his transition to becoming the 5th District’s new congressman.
That is “the prudent thing for him to do,” Goode said, and “if it turns out he wins (the election), I’ll congratulate him and wish him well.”
“There has been a huge amount of trust that people in the 5th District have placed in a newcomer” to the political scene, Perriello said by phone Monday night from Danville, where he was attending a victory dinner.
But in every locality within the district, “the results have been signed off on by representatives” of both the Republican and Democratic parties, he said. So “we (his campaign) are confident with the results.”
“It’s been a long, long process,” he added. “It’s exciting to finally have some closure.”
In the coming weeks, Perriello plans to visit various localities in the district, he said, to meet with local officials and become “as strong of a partner as possible” with them in creating “an economic revival.”
He said he will visit the Martinsville area in December to meet with the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce’s board and attend a Christmas parade.
Joel Turner of The Franklin News-Post in Rocky Mount and Mickey Powell of the Martinsville Bulletin wrote this report. |
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