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Democrat's recount begins, facing shortage of volunteers

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MONTPELIER – Court and election officials preparing for the recount in the Democratic primary for governor are facing a possible shortage of volunteers in some areas of the state.

That development emerged as some volunteers who offered to help out in the effort, which begins today, are reporting they are unable to do so after hearing the full details of the process and the length of time it will take.

That issue is most evident in smaller counties around the state.

Recounts are done in the county courthouses, not in the polling places where votes are tallied on election night, and in the more populous counties there will likely be plenty of volunteers, although the exact numbers are not yet known.

However, in some of the smaller counties clerks are finding it difficult to get personnel. Four-person teams are still needed for each set of vote counters and another four-member group is needed to oversee the process of tallying up the votes. Roughly 76,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary for governor.

Tina de la Bruere, superior court clerk in Orleans County, said Tuesday she originally had a list of 20 volunteers, enough to staff the required four-member table of observers and several four-person teams of vote counters. By Tuesday that list had been reduced to a dozen, and at least one of those was unable to make it, she said.

With both machine-tabulated ballots and hand-count precincts, “I felt I needed a minimum of 16 people,” she said.

Because of the potential shortfall of volunteers, some volunteers may be moved from more densely populated counties to smaller counties where needed, according to Peter Shumlin's campaign. Shumlin is the apparent nominee, with slightly less than 200 votes more than the closest of his four competitors, Doug Racine.

Racine and Shumlin, in an effort to speed up the process, agreed to give up the requirement that the teams of vote counters be balanced among their supporters. However, Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who is overseeing the process, said last week that to the extent possible the groups of vote counters should be representative of both camps. How much that will remain possible, especially in the smaller counties, with the diminished number of volunteers is also unclear.

“We are trying to do that but there are limits to what we can do with the number of names we have received,” said de la Bruere.

Another complicating factor is the fact that this is the first statewide recount of a primary, and the first statewide recount to use voting machines to tabulate the votes in precincts that use them for the initial count. The hope is that will speed the process, because the deadline to comply with federal election law without asking for an exemption is in just under two weeks.

Claire Mee, the Washington County Superior Court clerk who is overseeing both her county's recount and helping Crawford coordinate the statewide effort, said she and other administrators are also dealing with unfamiliarity with the process.

“This is new for most of us,” she said.

Many of the original list of more than 600 volunteers have dropped out now that they have learned they must commit to at least one full day of counting ballots and preferably more, according to Mee.

“They did not realize how long the commitment could be,” she said. “We have had quite a few calls from people who did not realize it was that big a commitment.”

Mee said it is not clear how long the recount will take.

“I think we will have a very good indication by Friday,” she said.

How much the recount, paid for by the Secretary of State's office, will cost is another uncertainty. The 2006 statewide recount in the auditor's race cost roughly $90,000 by some estimates, but there were many more ballots in that race, which was a General Election contest. Volunteers who work on the recount earn a daily stipend based on the amount jurors receive, roughly $30 a day.

While the cost is paid out of the Secretary of State's office budget, it will likely be made up in the annual budget adjustment bill which will come before lawmakers early next year.

Other than paying the bills and helping where possible, the Secretary of State's office largely gives way to the courts in a recount, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Dalton said.

“All of the ballots are supposed to be in the county courthouses by today,” Dalton said Tuesday. “We will stand by to help in any way.”