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Obenshain, down by 165 votes, orders recount

Fairfax, Chesterfield County contribute to race certification delays

Mark Obenshain, the 2013 Republican nominee for Commonwealth attorney general, filed for a recount with the Richmond Circuit Court after the State Board of Elections certified last Monday that his opponent, Democrat Mark Herring, had won the election.

Herring, a state senator from Loudon County, defeated fellow state senator Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) by just 165 votes, according to the board. The margin is less than .01 percent of the total vote.

“It’s the closest race in Virginia history, and as we have seen in other races around the country with margins this slim, this result could easily change when all is said and done,” Obenshain posted on Facebook last week.

Herring declared victory on his website, but he accepted the recount Obenshain requested.

“It is within Senator Obenshain’s right to pursue electoral victory to an ultimate conclusion beyond the original count, canvass and certification,” Herring said in a press release.

The last statewide recount followed the 2005 attorney general race between current governor Bob McDonnell and current state senator Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) — a race McDonnell won with an original margin of 360 votes. That recount only moved the margin 37 votes in Deeds’ favor, leaving McDonnell the winner.

The certification process for this year’s race took nearly three weeks and allegations of errors or misconduct have been made in several localities, including two of the largest counties in the state — Fairfax and Chesterfield.

A spokesman for the Fairfax Electoral Board said that the mistakes in the county were because of human error at one of the seven satellite voting stations. A machine had malfunctioned, but the computer chip was still in order and those working the machines made mistakes.

The errors were not noted on election night, but were discovered and corrected. The certified election result reflected those corrections, according to the spokesman.

The recount is expected to take place during a few-day period in mid-December. Lawyers for both candidates are working together to ensure that the process remains civil.

If Herring remains the victor after the recount, the Democratic Party will hold all five statewide offices — a feat it has not accomplished since 1970.

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