Write-In Totals Muddy Results
Schwartz Is Behind, Evans Cruises Amid Apparent Voting Irregularities
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Political newcomer Patrick Mara claimed victory over longtime incumbent Republican council member Carol Schwartz in yesterday's District primary, but a definitive result was unavailable late last night as election officials could not explain reports of unusually high numbers of write-in ballots in some wards.
There were no immediate signs that the write-ins affected the outcome of the Schwartz-Mara contest or other races in which most incumbents cruised to easy victories as expected.
The confusion left a cloud over the process, however, and Ward 2 council member Jack Evans (D) asked for clarification of the results even though they showed him beating challenger Cary Silverman.
Daniel Murphy, a Board of Elections spokesman, said late last night that officials were examining precinct tallies vote by vote because the numbers were not matching up. "We are looking at all the results right now," he said.
Schwartz appeared to lose her reelection bid to a fifth term to Mara, a young, aggressive newcomer backed by the business community. Unofficial results called the race in favor of Mara with 60 percent of the vote to Schwartz's 40 percent with all precincts reporting.
"I am very excited. I think it's certainly important to rectify this situation to ensure smooth voting in November. This is part of what I am campaigning on, establishing a leaner, meaner, more efficient D.C. government," Mara said in an early morning interview.
Evans appeared to have scored a solid win but complained because of the irregularities in Ward 2.
With 13 of 14 precincts reporting, Evans bested Silverman 64 to 35 percent. But that didn't stop his lawyers from demanding a precinct-by-precinct recount.
About 16 percent of registered voters came out to vote, a drop from the 20 percent that went to the polls in 2004, according to the preliminary results.
Confusion ensued as people took notice of a dramatic increase in write-in votes and other irregularities in the races. For example, there were 1,560 write-in votes cast in the Schwartz-Mara race. For perspective, 68 write-in ballots were counted in that at-large race in 2004.
In Ward 2, there were 1,554 write-ins with 13 of 14 precincts reporting, compared with 179 in 2004.
Murphy said that it appears that one precinct "gave us a reading on our summary report that made our results way off."
