SD-23

Democrats are still criticizing the results from the 23rd District state Senate contest, but candidate Kathy Groob (D-Covington) appears to have acknowledged the outcome of the election is not likely to change.

"It's pretty much over," Groob told the Kentucky Enquirer.

After an extended and controversial post-election period, Groob remains 807 votes down to state Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs).

Machine troubles in Kenton County on today. "Unless there is some new big discovery I do not expect the results to change. No matter what we do I don't think we can pick up that margin." Election Day sparked controversy from both sides, initially, with the Republican Party of Kentucky firing off a Nov. 4 release warning voters that a glitch on eSlate machines in use may not be attributing straight ticket votes to the Groob-Westwood race.

In what the secretary of state's office said was an isolated incident, the eSlate machines were yanked from operation on Election Day. Officials from the company responsible for ballot layout on the machines later took responsibility for the error on the machines and votes on the eSlate machines were later counted by hand. The 807 vote margin that resulted was duplicated after a recanvass last week.

Still, the Kentucky Democratic Party pounced on the incident on Election Day and continues to assert that it was emblematic of a greater problem.

"There is a larger problem here than in just that race because what happened in Kenton County on Election Day was just despicable," KDP Chair Jennifer Moore told PolitickerKY.com today. "That should have never happened in Kentucky."

The secretary of state's office rejected criticism today from the Kentucky Democratic Party, which alleged that "questions remained" in the wake of a recanvass yesterday that showed no change in the result for the race in the 23rd state Senate district.

After that recanvass, Kathy Groob (D-Covington) was shown to be 807 votes behind state Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs).

A statement dispatched earlier today from Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Jennifer Moore targeted Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R-Richwood) and the Kenton County Clerk's office over the SD-23 competition. The results of that race were recanvassed Thursday after initial Election Day
problems required a hand count of votes cast on eSlate machines, due to an error.

"It is certain that eSlate voting machines did not operate correctly on Election Day and that the situation was not properly remedied," said Moore.  "And the secretary of state's press releases notwithstanding, it is clear that he is incapable of ensuring fair elections in his own backyard."

Grayson is a resident of northern Kentucky, where SD-23 is located.

The KDP's statement alleged there was a "questionable allocation of absentee ballots" in addition to the "failure" of the eSlate machines, and charged that the county clerk and Grayson had not "addressed" these issues.

"At this point, no one in the 23rd Senatorial District can be certain that their vote was counted," added Moore.

The eSlate machines were pulled from operation on Nov. 4 amid complaints that they were not registering votes in the SD-23 race when voters selected the "straight ticket" option.

The company that provided ballot layout services for Kenton County - Harp Enterprises - took responsibility for the error and ballots from the machines were then counted by hand.

Updated, 7am, Saturday.

Today's 4pm deadline for requesting a recanvass of general election results has passed.

Recanvasses will be conducted tommorrow morning in areas where requested.

Among several city council and judicial races to be recanvassed, the contests in state House district 26 and state Senate district 23 will also be recanvassed.

A recanvass is essentially a check of the math utilized in tabulating vote totals.

Recanvasses should be completed by tomorrow afternoon.

The Elizabethtown News-Enterprise reports state House candidate Mike Weaver (D-Elizabethtown) has officially requested a recanvass for his race against state Rep. Tim Moore (R-Elizabethtown).

Such a request was expected last week by the Secretary of State's office. With all precincts reporting, Weaver is currently shown down by 108 votes to Moore.

All recanvasses in Kentucky will be conducted on Thursday morning in the localities where the elections took place, with results then being forwarded to the Secretary of State's office.

Kathy Groob (D-Covington) already requested a recanvass of her race against state Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Spring) in the 23rd state Senate district.

The process of a recanvass is basically a re-check of the math used to calculate vote totals.

In the 23rd state Sen. district, incumbent Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs) has increased his lead to 807 votesover Kathy Groob (D-Covington) after a hand count of votes from defective voting machines in Kenton County, according to the Kentucky Enquirer.

Groob, meanwhile, is reportedly refusing to concede the race and demanding a recanvass.

Ballots from 84 machines that suffered from a glitch on election day were counted over after straight-ticket votes on those eSlate machines omitted a selection for the Groob v. Westwood contest.

The count in the race now stands at 21,057 to 20,250.

Westwood lead by 703 votes after the initial count on Tuesday night, though the ballots on the flawed machines were not yet fully accounted for.

As results currently stand, no incumbents from Kentucky's congressional or state legislative delegations were unseated in yesterday's general election. Results from two tightly-contested challenges to incumbents are still in question, but aside from those, incumbents across the state look to be returning to their offices with large margins.

In fact, if the results currently posted in those two lingering races stand up to challenges, no incumbents in state or federal races will have been unseated this general election.

All five incumbent U.S. Reps. seeking re-election this year are headed back after huge wins. With 100 percent of precincts reporting in unofficial results, Ben Chandler (D-Versailles), Hal Rogers (R-Somerset), Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville), and Geoff Davis (R-Hebron) each beat lightly-funded opponents by more than 20 points. The incumbent with the most well-funded opposition U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) - fended off a challenge from his 2006 opponent, former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, by 18 points.

Patrick Crowley of the Kentucky Enquirer reports votes registered on faulty eSlate machines in Kenton County will be counted by considering "voter intent."

Earlier today, eSlate machines in Kenton did not register votes in both the areas state Senate race between incumbent Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs) and Kathy Groob (D-Covington) and the state House race between Merrick Krey (D-Erlanger) and state Rep. Adam Koening (R-Erlanger) when a voter selected the "straight ticket" option.

Election officials will reportedly take into account "voter intent" to count votes impacted by this glitch. 

"If someone was voting a straight ticket, and for instance their vote did not register for Kathy Groob or Jack Westwood, that vote can still be counted because it is obvious who they were voting for," Kenton Board of Elections member Greg Shumate told the Enquirer about the counting process.

The Kenton County Board of Elections has voted to remove eSlate voting machines from operation in what Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Les Fugate characterizes as an "isolated incident."

Problems were reported with regards to how those specific machines registered selections when voters tried to vote "straight ticket."

According to Fugate, the problem appears to have been that votes for the area's state Senate race may not have been registered by voters voting straight ticket on the eSlate machines.

The eSlate machines are now out of operation in the area, with the Kenton Board reportedly considering how to handle the impact of the glitch on votes.

Polls open at 6am tomorrow throughout Kentucky and will stay open until 6pm, local time. With a slate of high-profile federal and state races set to be decided after months of campaigning, PolitickerKY.com asked around for opinions on what Kentuckians can watch for and what those on both sides of the aisle expect going into election day.

U.S. Senate: Lunsford (D) v. McConnell (R)

Without question, the most visible race throughout the state is U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Louisville) fight for a fifth term against businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville). Over five months have passed since Lunsford clinched the Democratic primary, with millions of dollars spent on both sides. The latest poll finds McConnell up 8 over Lunsford - results the Lunsford camp disputes.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R-Richwood) told PolitickerKY.com that he would be keeping an eye on returns from two traditional Republican strongholds on election night to see if McConnell can shore up his usual base of support - the 2nd and 1st Congressional Districts in western Kentucky. Grayson said those areas were "key" to that contest.

Grayson also suggested turnout in Jefferson County - and Louisville - could be important in the race. The are offers Democrats a sizeable registration advantage and was one of two counties that broke for Barack Obama during the May 20 Democratic Primary.

"It should be high, but if it's really, really high it could be a good sign for Lunsford and Obama," said Grayson of turnout. "If it's with expectations, I don't know that that would be a bad sign."

COVINGTON - The candidates for Kentucky's 23rd state Senate district engaged each other in debate for the final time yesterday evening, trading barbs in a contentious debate over some sensitive issues at the 9th Street Baptist Church in Covington. Winding up their bids in one of the most competitive state legislative races in Kentucky, incumbent state Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Crescent Springs) and challenger Kathy Groob (D-Covington) clearly had differences with each other on a wide array of issues ranging from spending to hate crimes legislation. While each candidate had their practiced message ready, these were largely overshadowed by their sparring over policy contrasts.

The question of expanded casino gaming was one of the first major differences discussed, with Groob reiterating her support for the policy and claiming it could bring millions of dollars into the financially-struggling Commonwealth that are now going across the border to casinos in Indiana.

"We have the social ills that come from it, but we don't have the money to deal with that. Our state needs the money. We have to find revenue somewhere," said Groob. "This initiative would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars into this state."

She also continued to press the incumbent as an "ineffective" legislator, even when debate panelist Patrick Crowley listed project money Westwood said he had secured for the 23rd district.

"I would not give him the credit single-handedly for those," said Groob. "We have not seen him take a leadership role on these kinds of projects. Sure, it's easy to vote for once it's in there, but to stand up and fight for those things - those are the true leaders."

Saying he would not "advocate strongly" for gaming but would support allowing the issue to face a referendum, Westwood rejected the assertion that he was ineffective and targeted Groob's position on casinos.

"Her solution to most of the issues we are going to talk about tonight is ‘well let's get gambling and that will solve all of our problems,'" said Westwood.

Alternately, Westwood said obtaining "one percent growth" in the economy was the means with which to create revenue - a task he said the state would not have "any problem getting" with proper infrastructure in place.