Despite costly recount, no change in original results of PA judge race

Anne E. Lazarus of Philadelphia won the fourth open seat on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, according to a recount conducted in all 67 Pennsylvania counties.

Lazarus was also the winner on Nov. 3, but one of the losing candidates refused to waive his right to a recount based on the vote margin, triggering the costly recount.

The final cost of the recount will not be known until all counties submit requests for payment, says Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes, but the secretary earlier estimated the cost at $1.3 million.

Unofficial returns previously reported by the counties indicated Lazarus had won, but three other candidates trailed her by less than one-half of 1 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office, according to Cortes.

The close margin triggered a recount in all 67 counties -- the first required by 2004 amendments to Pennsylvania's Election Code, Cortes said.

"I am encouraged that the state's first recount confirmed the election was conducted in a fair and accurate manner," Cortes said.

The returns provided by the counties in the recount are as follows:

* Judy Olson: 954,065
* Sallie Mundy: 870,091
* Paula Ott: 807,327
* Anne E. Lazarus: 726,917
* Robert J. Colville: 724,830
* Temp Smith: 723,117
* Kevin Francis McCarthy: 714,237
* Teresa Sarmina: 690,682
* Marakay Rogers: 127,492

The top four candidates win seats. The losing candidate who asked for the recount was Temp Smith.

Lazarus actually moved up one spot in the final vote tally. She came in fourth in the Nov. 3 vote count, but edged Rogert J. Colville in the recount numbers.

A variety of factors contributed to minor differences between the vote totals calculated in the recount and those reported in unofficial returns, most notably absentee ballots, military overseas ballots and provisional ballots, Cortes said.