Dave Hall of Norman took the oath of office Nov. 22 to serve as state representative for House District 62.
Submitted photo
The Monroe County Democratic Party has requested a recount in the election for representative for Indiana’s District 62 after Republican Dave Hall defeated Democrat candidate Penny Githens by just 40 total votes.
The seat represents Owen, Pershing and Salt Creek townships in Jackson County, all of Brown County and sections of Monroe County.
Hall, a Jackson County resident, received 86.2% of the 1,020 votes from Jackson County residents. Across all districts, the margin was much more narrow with Hall receiving 50.1% of the total vote and Githens, a Monroe County resident, receiving 49.9%.
Overall, Hall received 12,990 votes with Githens close behind with 12,950, according to the Nov. 29 count from the Office of the Secretary of State.
Hall originally was declared the winner by more than 1,000 votes before about 6,600 early voting ballots that had not yet been counted were added to the total.
David Henry, chairman for the Monroe County Democratic Party, said his group decided to proceed with its request for a recount to ensure the most accurate results possible.
“After a hard-fought election, it is imperative that the voters know that every last lawful vote has been accounted for in the Indiana 62nd race. In such extremely close races, a recount is simply about exercising our candidate’s rights under the law and crossing every T and dotting every I,” Henry said in a statement released by the party on Monday announcing the decision.
“While we have full faith in our local clerk’s office, this recount petition asks for a recount in all precincts in the Indiana 62nd District, including Brown and Jackson counties and a manual recount in Monroe and Brown counties. This is because counties like Monroe and Brown rely upon paper ballots, where honest human error in casting ballots would be understandably possible,” he added, further explaining the decision.
Hall declined to comment on the recount request when asked.
The recount request will be handled by the Indiana State Recount Commission, which must complete the work no later than Dec. 20, according to state statute. That deadline can be extended by the commission if it finds good cause to do so.
The statute further requires that the next step would be for the commission to prepare two certified statements indicating the correct vote totals within seven days of the completion of the recount. One statement will be delivered to the winning candidate, while the other will be delivered to the presiding officer of the House in which the successful candidate is to be seated.