Many voters are raising questions about electronic voting machines after an obscure race for parish sheriff in northwest Louisiana led to a seemingly improbable result: The Democratic candidate topping the Republican candidate by a single vote.
That’s right: Henry Whitehorn (D) received 21,621 votes and John Nickleson (R) got 21,620.
John Nickelson, the Republican candidate, announced on social media that he has requested a recount.
“This extraordinarily narrow margin … absolutely requires a hand recount to protect the integrity of our democratic process, and to ensure we respect the will of the people,” John Nickelson, the Republican candidate who trailed by one vote in last week’s election for Caddo Parish Sheriff, posted on social media Wednesday.
The Associated Press, apparently feeling it is now safe to question election integrity in the distant aftermath of the contested 2020 election, provided context on the race.
“The tight race shines a spotlight on Louisiana’s recount process and its outdated voting machines, which do not produce an auditable paper trail that experts say is critical to ensuring election results are accurate,” the Associated Press reported on the race. “States’ recount abilities have proven to be exceedingly important, especially following the 2020 presidential election when multiple battleground states conducted recounts and reviews to confirm President Joe Biden’s victory.”
During the recount on Monday only absentee ballots will be counted again and checked for irregularities. However, they only account for around 17% of the total votes cast in the runoff election. Absentee ballots are mailed in and are the only paper trail available under Louisiana’s current voting system.
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