An Open Memo to Candidates in Races Involving a Recount

By Jack Young

It looks like the election night results in your race show you dead even with your opponent. Your advisors are urging a recount, citing evidence of irregularities in the vote tallies. If you decide to press your case, you had better be prepared. How you handle this election dispute may well determine your political future.

First, be respectful of the process. Remember you are talking to people who took the time to go the polls. Fortunately, half of them like you and voted for you. The other half hate you and did not vote for you. You need to appeal to all of them in your public statements after the election.

Judges and election officials are also listening. Follow the process, which has the power to put you in office if you let it. Do not try to “game” the system. Think about the mistake Al Gore made in 2000 when he listened to those advisors who wanted only a recount in the four Florida counties where he won by big margins, and then they selected the slogan “Count Every Vote.”

Sore losers in recounts rarely make a come back in subsequent elections. Remember that Nixon accepted defeat in 1960 even though the Chicago results might have made him question the outcome, and then he came back to win in 1968.

Second, your campaign needs to gather all the data it can. Start with the official canvas that usually commences within days of the election. Don’t trust the election night results, but review them closely to identify precincts that need immediate, on-the-ground investigation. Then send field people into those precincts to gather every piece of information they can.

You need to know how many people are registered, how many voted, the vote totals for all races, what the projections were, and individual machine totals. You also need to know about any incidents during the Election Day voting and whether all the totaling devices and ballots have been accounted for. You may be surprised to learn that results and total tapes get left in schools, cars and just about anywhere except in the counting room.

Third, chose your most trusted campaign staff member to run your recount. Pick the person you would want to handle your personal check book. This person will be key in making sure all the information is gathered and that you stay on message. Then find the most solid in state trial lawyer you can to represent you in court and before election officials if necessary. Chose “solid” over flash. Also hire a recount expert to work with your lawyer, and have them develop a strategic plan that takes into account all the options and possible outcomes. Numerous lawyers and advisors will be jetting in to try to help you. Listen to them and then immediately send them home to raise money or conduct discrete legal research for your in-state legal team.

Fourth, set up computer spread sheets to analyze, and reanalyze, the election results. Get hard numbers. Do not put any trust in those political advisors who project great vote changes unless they can prove each number in their projection. One of the most bizarre parts of the one-day trial in the Florida recount was when Al Gore’s expert projected unobtainable leads for Gore in Miami/Dade when in fact his lead was very small. In other recounts, experts have insisted that there were more voters in a jurisdiction than lived there. When a campaign makes claims like this, it loses all credibility.

Fifth, organize a field staff that will cover the complete jurisdiction. Do not miss any precincts. Remember your votes can be anywhere. Another big mistake made in Al Gore’s recount effort was ignoring DuVal County and north central counties, where he could have picked up votes even though Bush had carried the counties.

When the actual recount occurs, be, and appear to be, fair. If a ballot looks like a vote for your opponent, recognize it as such. You will be surprised how far this approach will take you in the proceedings and in the eyes of the voters.

In all the excitement, don’t lose track of common sense. Thank the people around you for putting up with the recount when they should have been with their families for Thanksgiving. And always thank the voters.

Jack Young is a lawyer in Washington, D.C. and has represented candidates around the country and internationally. He was one of the lead recount lawyers for Al Gore in Florida in 2000. He can be reached at young (at) sandlerreiff.com or 202.479.1111.