Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Sanders Calls for Recanvass of Kentucky Democratic Primary Vote
ABC Radio Charlotte

(WASHINGTON) -- The Sanders campaign has officially requested a recanvass of the vote from the May 17 Kentucky Democratic primary. The goal seems to be earning the one remaining delegate in the neck-and-neck contest.

In a letter to Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes -- a Hillary Clinton supporter -- sent Tuesday and signed by Bernie Sanders himself, Sanders requests a "full and complete check and recanvass of every one of the voting machines and absentee ballots from all precincts in all 120 counties involving the Democratic presidential race from the 2016 primary election."

A press release from Grimes' office confirms she received the request from the Sanders campaign.

"My office is notifying all county boards of elections that Sen. Sanders has requested a recanvass, and we are reminding them of the laws and procedures to be followed," said Grimes. "As always, we will assist the county boards of elections in any way we can."

The race has not been officially called, but Clinton leads Sanders by only 1,924. They both earned 27 delegates and Clinton has the support of two additional superdelegates. There is one remaining delegate, and this recanvass seems to be an effort by the Sanders campaign to earn that one delegate, which covers the sixth congressional district. The district in question includes the state's second largest city, Lexington, and the state capital, Frankfort.

A recanvass is not a recount, according to the secretary of state's office. The county boards of elections will convene Thursday morning to "recheck and recanvass the voting machines, per Kentucky law." A recanvass could possibly find human error, but it is unlikely to change anything dramatically in the vote count.

The Clinton campaign says they are aware Sanders wants a recanvass and they're not going to contest him.

"They've been all over the map," an aide said about the Sanders camp and the contesting of the vote. "I'm not sure what the net impact will be going forward."

The campaign also noted that Sanders could use this as a fundraising tactic. "He has a cash flow problem," an aide said, referring to Sanders' recent decrease in donations.

On primary night, Grimes said Clinton was the "apparent winner" and Clinton declared herself the victor, but no official call has been made in the race.

According to the secretary of state's office, the "results of the primaries and election results are not official until the state board of results certifies the results on May [31]."

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