Panel set for recount

Dascal Bunch Mike Wolanin | The Republic

A three-person recount commission has been formed to determine whether Republicans or Democrats will have a majority on the Columbus City Council.

Kenneth Whipker will serve as the GOP representative, Steve Schoettmer is the Democrat’s representative, and Sue Chapple was chosen as the third commissioner, who was referred to in court last month as the “mechanic commissioner.”

Those three will conduct the recount that will determine whether incumbent Republican Dascal Bunch or Democrat Jerone Wood will represent District 1 on the Columbus City Council.

On Nov. 5, it appeared that Wood was one of four Democrats who won city council seats, giving the Democrats their first majority on the council since 1983.

But Wood defeated Bunch by only one vote, 260 to 259. Ten days after the election, Bunch officially filed for a recount.

Under an order signed Thursday by Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton, the three-member commission will convene for the first time on Friday, Dec. 13, at 8:30 a.m. to take an oath and begin the recount process.

The recount commission has been given one week, until Dec. 20th, to complete their work, Worton said.

Chappel was named mechanic commissioner due to her lengthy experience as both a poll worker and an election inspector, according to Taylor Seagraves, county deputy elections supervisor. Chappel has the experience and expertise to provide printouts or any other technical knowledge that her fellow commissioners might request, Seagraves said.

Schoettmer, a retired postal worker and former union leader, remains active in local Democratic politics. Last year, the Elizabethtown resident unsuccessfully challenged District 69 state representative Jim Lucas, R-Seymour.

Whipker, who currently works for the Indiana Department of Correction, served as Bartholomew County sheriff from 1999 through 2006, and was later elected to the Columbus City Council.

The three-member commission will be responsible for following the Indiana State Recount Commission guidelines, which provide 22 separate procedures that describe step-by-step how the recount should be conducted.

One requirement is that the recount be confined to a roped-off area of the Election Board Room on the first floor of the courthouse. Only the three commissioners and county clerk Jay Phelps will be allowed in that area, while all other observers — including attorneys and media — must remain on the other side of the ropes.

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 that recount, Phelps said.

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The recount of 600 votes cast in District One for the Columbus City Council last month is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 13.

Under state guidelines, the three-member recount commission must first examine 59 paper ballots to ensure they were properly handled and marked. Ballots with irregularities could be excluded from the recount.

After examination of the paper ballots, the commission will begin recounting votes cast by machine before and during Election Day.

Watchers from either political party can observe the commission , and notify the appropriate personnel if they observe anything suspicious.

When the recount is finished, the commission will present Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps with a recount certificate either before or on Friday, Dec. 20.

According to state regulations, only the county clerk can determine whether the recount certificate differentiates from the original vote count.

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