Posted on 11/06/2010 3:35:01 PM PDT by DrewsDad
The Travis County clerk's election division began the process of reviewing and counting provisional and overseas ballots Friday, and the outcome could lead to the ousting of a West Austin Democrat.
State Rep. Donna Howard led Republican challenger Dan Neil after election night by 15 votes out of more than 51,000 votes cast. But the race isn't quite over.
After the current round of counting is complete — the official results are expected to be announced Wednesday — candidates can call for a recount, Howard said.
Neil's campaign manager, Zach Vaughn, said it's too early to make a call on a recount.
Beginning Friday and continuing Monday, the clerk's office will process provisional and eligible late mail-in ballots cast in Tuesday's election. Of 1,053 provisional ballots received, 146 included votes in the District 48 race.
By 5 p.m. Monday, the clerk's office will count all eligible civilian and military ballots from overseas voters. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir's office said it presented 112 mail ballots to the Ballot Board for review Friday.
DeBeauvoir's office said 3,059 ballots that were mailed to voters are still outstanding, including 679 from House District 48. Outstanding ballots include domestic and overseas ballots.
Sometime after 5 p.m. Monday, updated unofficial results will be released.
If a candidate asks for a recount, by law it must take place within seven days.
Vaughn said the Neil campaign was hopeful on Friday.
"We're feeling pretty positive," he said. "There are still a lot of votes to be counted, so there could be a win for us."
Howard said she will continue her work for the district while the tallying takes place.
On Election Day, Republican challengers defeated 22 incumbent Democrats in the Texas House. No sitting House Republicans lost their re-election bids.
Republicans ended election night with 99 seats in the 150-member chamber.
That number fell to 98 with the death of Rep. Edmund Kuempel , R-Seguin, on Thursday. A special election will be held to fill his seat.
If Kuempel's seat stays in Republican hands and District 48 turns Republican, the party will have 100 seats in the House, giving the GOP a two-thirds majority. A two-thirds majority is needed to pass a constitutional amendment, tap into the rainy day fund and have a quorum.
In 2003, Republicans did not have enough members to make a quorum, and Democrats shut down the legislative process when they went to Oklahoma to prevent debate on a redistricting bill.
teaton@statesman.com; 445-3631
Military ballots don’t count, they weren’t sent out on time..
Gotta love it.
It sounds like we will know more about HD48 results late Monday.
I haven’t heard of any problems with the Texas military ballots. New York may be another story.
New York made sure the military didn’t get them in time.
regardless, their military ballots should still count
regardless, their military ballots should still count
Why isn’t there a revolution in this country?
Americans aren’t ticked off enough yet.
There haven’t been enough outrages yet.
A 2/3rds majority would be sweet.
The one I want to see go is Lloyd Doggett in TX 25
100/150=2/3 alright, but isn’t (2/3 +1), i.e. 101/151, required?
Not much difference between Travis County and Neuvo York, or Madison or San Fran.
The majority requires 1/2 + 1. A 2/3 vote is just a 2/3 vote and the speaker is one of the 150, so it’s still 100/150 needed.
Thanks for your clarification.
I won’t lose a minute of sleep if MS frizzy head loses her seat in the state house. She is one of those arrogant lawmakers who looks down her nose just like zero does, and I’d really like her to be history.
Key day for deciding West Austin seat in House
By Jason Embry | Monday, November 8, 2010, 06:45 AM
More votes will be counted today, lawmakers will start filing bills and Perry will go head-to-head with Conan O’Brien.
There’s one last House seat that’s up for grabs out there, and it’s a biggie. It’s Democratic Rep. Donna Howard’s seat, based in West Austin, but it could soon become Republican Dan Neil’s.
Howard won by 15 votes on election night, but as the Statesman’s Tim Eaton explained in Saturday’s paper, Travis County officials today will tally overseas votes — about 100 — and update unofficial returns.
So we’ll get a step closer today, although it could take a recount for us to know for sure whether Neil will beat Howard and give Republicans the potential for 100 House seats (assuming Edmund Kuempel’s Seguin seat is filled by a Republican).
Bro...you may get your wish.....keeping my fingers crossed for you and the rest of HD 48. I’m guessing most overseas voters are actually working people, i.e., don’t vote democRAT.
I haven’t heard any updates yet, but expect to hear something by this evening. I really want Donna gone.
The word is that Neil's campaign will ask for a recount and may pursue legal measures as well.
I was wanting to type “Donna, you are fired” this morning.
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