Columbus City Council District 1 representative Dascal Bunch is “leaning towards” officially requesting a recount after losing the District 1 race in the municipal election by the smallest of margins.
Democratic challenger Jerone Wood spoiled Bunch’s bid for a third term on the city council by one vote, 260 to 259. Wood was one of four Democrats who won city council seats on Tuesday, giving the Democrats their first majority on the council since 1983, election officials said.
Bunch said he will meet with his attorney on Monday to discuss his options and plans to formally announce his decision next week. With four Democrats and three Republicans on the incoming council, a recount could potentially sway the balance of power in favor of the Republicans.
“I’m leaning towards a recount,” Bunch said.
The deadline for Bunch to file a request for a recount is Nov. 19 at noon, Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps said. The deadline for Bartholomew County GOP chairwoman Barb Hackman to file on behalf of a candidate is Nov. 22 at noon.
The candidate or party chair must file the request for a recount with the clerk’s office, Phelps said. The request would then be randomly assigned to a Bartholomew County judge as a civil case, Phelps said.
The filing fee to request a recount is $157, county election officials said. If a request is filed, “the judge will set the parameters” of the recount, Phelps said.
Currently, recounts in Indiana involving electronic voting machines are done by reprinting the vote tallies on the machines and comparing them to the number of signatures in the poll books, Phelps said. Additionally, mail-in paper ballots would be recounted by hand.
The last recount done in a Columbus municipal election was in the 2011 general election, after Republican Frank Jerome defeated Democrat Greg Knoll by two votes, 879 to 877, to win the Columbus City Council District 3 seat, Phelps said.
The results did not change after the recount, Phelps said.
“You’ve got to commend the Democratic party for getting people out to vote,” Bunch said. “They came together, were unified, worked hard, and that’s why they got what they got.”
