Ninenty-nine percent of the precincts have reported, and it’s still not clear who will win the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Centre County state Rep. Scott Conklin leads former Philadelphia city controller Jonathan Saidel 35.4 percent to 34.9 percent, or 316,192 votes to 311,538 votes.
The margin, fewer than 5,000 ballots cast, would seem to indicate the race is headed for a recount. Saidel spokesman Marty Marks told PoliticsPA, in an e-mail at 1:00 a.m., said key precincts and absentee ballots still had not yet come in.
“We will see tomorrow,” he wrote.
Former Commonwealth Court judge Doris Smith-Ribner surprisingly finished a competitive third, grabbing 30 percent of the vote.
Who will pay for a re-count? Doesn’t that mean opening all the returns/machines if necessary. We the taxpayer’s should not have to pay for this, since 5,000 votes seem pretty definite. Is something going on with the first count, we are not aware of? Like cheating.