2010: Al Edwards Calls for Recount

Who will represent Houston's HD-146 in the Texas House next session is still in question. State Rep. Al Edwards, D-Houston, filed for a recount after perennial foe and former state Rep. Borris Miles beat him by just eleven votes on March 2 (later revised to ten, by election officials in Harris County). Says Edwards:

"In a highly contested race with the vote separated by only 10 votes, I strongly feel that its important that we take all necessary steps to ensure that no errors have been made. The request for a recount is not aimed at any particular individual or entities, simply to assure my constituents, as they have requested, that the count was fair and accurate as much as possible.  Therefore I am seeking a recount of the voting results.  I urge the Texas Democratic Party to approve the recount petition."

How does the recount process work? A recount can be requested if the difference between the winner and second-highest vote-getter is less than 10% of the votes the winning candidate received (got that?), or if the total number of votes received by every candidate amounts to less than 1,000. For more, Julian Aguilar explains it all.