UPDATE – Nov. 30, 2018
DJ Johnson officially filed a recount request with the clerk’s office of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
The decision for the recount request comes after an investigation by his legal team, which found discrepancies between the number of voters and voters’ signatures in the voter registration book.
“It appears that individuals voted, but did not did not sign the voter registration books,” Johnson said, which occurred at more than one precinct according to his team.
Johnson said that expertise regarding state election recounts is hard to come by and the process takes too long. The House will convene a commission to hear Johnson’s appeal, but this cannot happen until the Kentucky General Assembly is back in session, which does not happen until early January.
“It just doesn’t seem right to wait until the legislature starts to find out who the representative will be,” Johnson said.
Because of this experience, Johnson said he plans to address modernizing the recount process regardless of the House’s final decision in his appeal.
Daviess County Chief Deputy Clerk Richard House said while the clerks office tries to minimize poll worker error, it still occurs.
“This situation just puts a magnifying glass on it,” House said.
House is set to testify before a circuit court grand jury on Dec. 4 certifying the election. This is a standard process for the clerks office according to House. As a part of that hearing, House will present a general election report, outlining all precinct errors identified by the clerks office. Owensboro Times obtained that report, which was also given to both Johnson and Jim Glenn, the democratic candidate who one by a one vote margin. The report notes nearly 30 examples of errors or mishaps, including the voter registration discrepancy Johnson submitted to the clerk’s office of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
According to House, the number of errors is typical of previous elections, but he does admit that the clerks office spent more time trying to identify errors and their causes.
“This is a teachable moment for any poll worker in the state,” House said.
Nov. 26, 2018
The Daviess County Clerks office hasn’t seen a one-vote margin in at least 50 years, according to Clerk David “Oz” Osborne. So when DJ Johnson lost the 13th District race for the Kentucky House of Representatives to Democrat Jim Glenn, he, along with voting officials, had to consult the State Board of Elections for the appeal process.
According to Johnson, once the count was officially certified by the clerks office, which occurred last Tuesday after the Nov. 15 recanvass, he has 15 days to challenge the results.
“It is my intention to move as fast as possible,” Johnson said, hoping he could complete the process sooner than the allotted 15 days. “I plan to move forward, but I am waiting on the facts at this point.”
Johnson said those facts, which his team is working to gather, will determine if he files an official challenge. Johnson was unable to comment on exactly what his team is looking for, but did say he was not concerned with the ballot issue reported by Owensboro Times on the morning of the election.
“There is a chance something slipped through the cracks,” Johnson said. “With that small margin, I feel like I need to move forward to make sure the voting was accurate.”
Should Johnson decide to proceed, he said his challenge will be sent to the House of Representatives, where five to nine House members will sit on a commission to hear the appeal and make a ruling. Although, Johnson said, to seat this commission, the General Assembly has to be in session, which he says will not happen until Jan. 8.
“Everyone is being very careful and rightfully so,” Johnson said. “Everybody is trying to get it right.”
Johnson was new to the political arena in 2016 when he upset opponent Jim Glenn, a five-term incumbent, by 264 votes.
