| Recount in Alabama Dealt Setback |
Story Filed: Friday, November 08, 2002 6:40 PM EST
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman's call for a statewide recount suffered a blow Friday when the Republican attorney general said sealed ballots can't be opened just because the governor trails his GOP challenger.
``You can't break the seal based on not liking the count,'' Attorney General Bill Pryor said in an opinion awaited by elections officials across Alabama.
In response, Siegelman campaign spokesman Rip Andrews said: ``The bottom line is it's a Republican conspiracy at its worst.''
It wasn't immediately clear whether the governor would go to court to try to force a recount or take the issue before the Legislature, which doesn't convene until January.
According to unofficial returns from Tuesday's election, Siegelman lost to GOP Rep. Bob Riley by 3,195 votes out of 1.3 million cast statewide.
All 67 counties began certifying their vote totals Friday and any changes were not expected to change the overall outcome. Riley has proceeded as if he is governor-elect, even appointing a transition team chairman.
Siegelman demanded a recount Thursday. He pointed in particular to Baldwin County, where elections officials reduced his tally by about 7,000 votes late Tuesday -- enough to give Riley the victory.
The county blamed a glitch in its computer system for the revision, but the first-term governor said the switch was made after poll workers left for the night.
Alabama law does not provide for an automatic recount in tight races, but voters can ask for one, county by county, if they put up a bond to pay for it. Democratic supporters began filing recount petitions across the state Friday, with Siegelman's campaign or the Democratic Party offering to pay for the bonds if necessary.
However, elections officials were advised by Secretary of State Jim Bennett to wait for Pryor's opinion in part to ``avoid the situation that arose in Florida.'' Alabama has never had a statewide recount and some of its election laws date to the 1800s.
Pryor said the governor's petitions aren't sufficient to unseal the ballots and other election records. He said Siegelman could get the ballots opened under only two scenarios:
--He files an election contest with the Legislature and shows that illegal ballots were counted or legal ballots weren't counted and they would change the results. The new Legislature would consider an election contest in January.
--He gets a judge to order a recount in a county after finding that a voting machine or precinct did not make a report on election night.
``It is a crime to break a seal without following these procedures,'' Pryor said. The crime is a misdemeanor.
Siegelman's attorney, Joe Espy, disagreed with Pryor's interpretation and said a recount is needed to settle the issue in voters' minds.
``Whatever happened, happened. Let's just count the votes,'' he said.
In Baldwin County, Republican District Attorney David Whetstone said the ballots would remain sealed, based on Pryor's advice.
``As of right now, no one is going to recount the votes in Baldwin County,'' he said.