Recount in County Exec race begins Friday
By Brandi Makuski
Eric Olson has requested a recount of the April 5 election results in the race for Portage County Executive.
Olson notified the press and County Clerk Kayla Filen on Wednesday morning.
Olson lost to John Pavelski in last week’s County Executive race, 8,533 to 8,557 votes, respectively. The results were verified in the April 11 canvass. A difference of 24 votes separates the two.
Filen said that following Monday’s canvass, Olson had three business days to request a recount, though she’s confident the results will remain the same. Under state law, a recount can be requested, at county expense, with a margin of one percent in a race with more than 4,000 votes.
“I am asking for a recount to remove any and all uncertainty about these very close results (well under the quarter of one percent threshold) and to guarantee that the winning candidate can go forward without any doubts,” Olson said in an April 13 email.
Olson said he wanted everyone involved in a recount process to “understand that I am only making this request after weighing all the possible consequences. In other recent elections in Wisconsin, there have been instances where entire batches of ballots went uncounted before the recount. While Portage County’s clerks and election officials are well-trained and versed in the counting and verification process, no human is immune from error.”
While Olson said he’s well aware that the results may be unchanged, he said a recount could present additional votes to him or Pavelski.
“No matter what, the citizens of Portage County will be able to see the recount results and know with 100 percent certainty that their vote mattered. At the end of this recount, the winner can and should govern in full confidence that they were successful in their effort to become Portage County’s fourth elected Executive,” he said.
Filen said on Wednesday morning she was in the process of notifying Pavelski, then she would begin making calls to obtain enough tabulators to recount the ballots on Friday.
“I’ve already kind of been planning for this,” Filen said on Wednesday.
Filen said like any other recount, the process will be open to public observers. She plans to notify the press as soon as a recount date is scheduled.
On Wednesday afternoon, Filen said the recount is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on April 15, which is Good Friday, in Conference Rooms 1 and 2 of the Portage Co. Annex, 1462 Strongs Ave.
