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Appeals Court Rules 10 Percent Hand-Count if Election Results Close

A state appeals court has rebuffed San Diego county's challenge to new state election procedures. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has required county registrars to manually recount 10 percent of the vo

Appeals Court Rules 10 Percent Hand-Count if Election Results Close

A state appeals court has rebuffed San Diego county's challenge to new state election procedures. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has required county registrars to manually recount 10 percent of the vote in close races. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The county has lost its bid to get the courts to rule in its favor before next Tuesday's election.

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San Diego Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler says she does not expect any races next week to win or lose by one half of one per cent. But if there is a close vote, she says she'll have a lot of work on her hands.

Seiler : To try to hand-count 10 percent of the precincts will be extremely burdensome in terms of staff, space, supervisions and cost.

Supporters of Secretary of State Debra Bowen's new rules say the County should put its resources into obeying the law, not fighting it in court. County attorneys say supervisors will likely decide to pursue their appeal, in the hope that the courts will rule in their favor before the June primary election.

Alison St John, KPBS News.