Ohio House 20th: Campbell (D) Seeking Donations and Volunteers for Recount

The adding in of absentee and provisional ballots (and some votes not counted due to e-voting machine problems) by the Franklin County Board of Elections whittled the lead of Rep. Jim McGregor (R-Gahanna) over spirited challenger Bev Campbell (D-Gahanna) in the 20th Ohio House District from 933 in the unofficial count to just 364 in the official count announced last Monday. That's just 0.84% of the votes cast, not quite close enough for an automatic recount.

Campbell has sent a message to supporters indicating that she has spent countless hours reviewing the situation with Don McTigue, an election lawyer representing her campaign, as well as voting rights lawyer Cliff Arnebeck and elections expert Dr. Herb Asher. As a result of their legal research and statistical analysis, they have concluded that anomalies in the vote count and the large number of disqualified provisional ballots require that a recount be conducted. "The votes are out there to definitely turn this election result around," she writes. Accordingly, she is looking for volunteers and financial commitments in order to meet Tuesday's deadline for requesting the recount.

The cost of the recount is $50 per precinct and the Campbell campaign is looking at recounting at least 55 precincts. She asks supporters to consider adopting one (or more) precincts, or joining with others to do so. Volunteers will be trained by McTigue to be official recount observers. She emphasizes the urgency of her cause:

We need to accomplish all of this very quickly or lose our right to a recount - and the election. The GOP is already trying to neutralize the gains we made last month, by introducing and passing HB 685 restricting Strickland's ability to use the rule making function of state agencies to effect his new policies and goals. We already gained 7 seats in the House and this 20th district House seat can make a huge difference in preventing the GOP from effectively handcuffing our new governor and thwarting the changes that the voters overwhelmingly demanded.

Supporters are urged to call or email immediately. The email contact is bev-at-bevcampbellforohio-dot-com.