Hogansville recount request denied
Published 6:35 pm Friday, November 8, 2019
Outgoing Hogansville Councilwoman Theresa Strickland requested a recount of Tuesday night’s post 5 election, but one is not required under state law due to the margin of defeat.
In an email to the elections supervisor, Strickland said, “I am requesting a recount. Reply with any information needed.”
Strickland lost to Toni Striblin 263 votes to 243 votes in Tuesday’s election, and requested a recount to the Troup County Board of Elections.
However, a recount will not take place since the vote totals were not within half of 1 percent. Despite the 20-vote difference, Striblin defeated Strickland by 4 percent (52 to 48 percent).
According to documentation obtained by The LaGrange Daily News, elections supervisor Andrew Harper forwarded Strickland’s request to Lisa Kelly, who serves as the City of Hogansville’s election superintendent.
“A recanvassing of votes is allowed as of right upon the timely written request of the losing candidate if the deciding number of votes in the race total one half of one percent or less of the total number of votes cast … Such is not the case in the Post No. 5 election,” Kelly said in a letter responding to Strickland’s request. “Otherwise, a recanvassing of votes is only authorized in the event it ‘appears that there is a discrepancy in the returns recorded for any voting machine or machines or that an error, although not apparent on the face of the returns, exists … ‘As I have been made aware of no such discrepancy or errors, no recanvass is allowed.”
Strickland could not be reached for comment on Friday. The election results will be made official on Tuesday.