SURRY COUNTY, Va. — On Nov. 7, Republican Delegate Kim Taylor declared victory in the race for House of Delegates District 82, a newly drawn district incorporating the city of Petersburg as well as the surrounding counties of Prince George, Dinwiddie and Surry.
78 votes separate her from Democratic challenger Kimberly Pope Adams. In Surry County, that difference is just 18, among the more than 3,000 ballots cast.
While Democrats have taken control in both the House and State Senate — and will keep the majority no matter the outcome of the recount — Adams is requesting a recount of the election on the basis that the totals are separated by less than 1%.
"The results of this election are far too close for anyone to declare outright victory. The people of the 82nd House District deserve to know with absolute certainty who is the winner of this race and Virginia law affords them that right. For that reason, I am seeking a recount of the vote," a statement from Adams reads from this Thursday.
Hampton Roads voters may remember two recounts from 2021, in the cycle when Republicans took control of the House of Delegates. In Virginia Beach, Del. Alex Askew ran against former-Del. Karen Greenhalgh for re-election in a previously drawn district. Then, Askew picked up 12 votes in the recount process, but ultimately lost the election to former Del. Greenhalgh.
13News Now spoke to the Surry County Registrar, Sharna' White, about what is to be expected in the process moving forward.
Sharna' White: This will be my first recount in my tenure, yes.
Alex Littlehales: Thoughts on it? Maybe it's something boring for others but probably exciting for you.
SW: Not anything different from what we do on a normal election day. Just a different atmosphere. Instead of the voters feeding the ballots into the machine, it’ll be staff. The preparation is basically the same. The machines have to be programmed a certain way, and staff needs to be in place to manage them and depending on the number of precincts you have, it also depends on the staffing you’ll need. The electoral board is responsible and will delegate duties to me, a lot of things go into play before these even happens but we’re prepared.”
AL: How similar is this to vote canvassing?
SW: Well with canvassing, we’re just certifying what the officers of election already did. The recount from what I'm reading, is more so what you see at the polls. You’re literally feeding the ballots through the machines if the judge allows the ballots to be scanned. If it needs to be hand counted we will have to do that, but typically it is allowed for scanners to be utilized. The difference is that over-votes and under-votes and write-ins need to be rejected for that race. We’d hand count those.”
AL: From a staffing perspective, who is actually working on this and when?
SW: We have not gotten a date yet, the paperwork can’t be filed until the election results are certified by the state. At this point it’s just what we’re hearing. But the state has until December 4th to even certify the election, so we won’t even know a date until the courts us down the documents.”
Because the results are not certified, you can’t declare a winner. So you can’t do a recount without a clear certified winner. That is what the state Board of Elections does after we certify the election results locally. They then have time to certify it on their level. Only then can you declare yourself a “loser.”
AL: How long will this take?
SW: No idea how long it will take, since this will be my first [laughs].