Carolyn Bourdeaux and Rep. Rob Woodall appear headed for a recount
With all the absentee and provisional ballots tallied up, the race between U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA07) and challenger Carolyn Bourdeaux appears to be headed for a recount.
The final vote-count saw Bourdeaux trailing the incumbent Woodall by just 419 votes, or .19 percent. Per Georgia law, any margin below 1 percent means that the losing candidate may call for a recount. That is exactly what Bourdeaux did on Tuesday, formally requesting that interim Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden begin the process. The Secretary of State’s office is currently reviewing that request, but is expected to consent.
In a press conference Tuesday morning Bourdeaux echoed some of the sentiments levied by gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has notably refused to concede in her loss against Governor-elect Brian Kemp. She laid doubt on the process, telling reporters “Much of this vote was done electronically, and there is actually no way to verify that the votes cast on the machines were the ones that were actually recorded.”
For the 20,000 odd paper ballots cast in the district her campaign has requested to observe the recount process to make sure it is done fairly.
“While I am, of course, concerned about fairness and transparency with respect to my own race, I do see this as a part of an overall effort to reform election processes here in Georgia so that everybody can have confidence that their vote is being counted,” said Bourdeaux.
Following the news the Woodall campaign issued a statement of its own, saying that a recount request was expected. Given the history of recounts in the state, they have reason to be confident that their favorable result will hold. In last year’s Atlanta mayoral race a recount found no new votes for Mary Norwood, who lost to Keisha Lance Bottoms by just 800 votes. In fact, according to numbers from FairVote, only three times from 2000-2015 did a recount reverse the results of an election, and those were all in statewide races with more margin for error than a congressional race. Barring some unforeseen scandal, it would be safe to assume that Woodall maintains his lead and keeps his seat, at least until 2020.
