A special judge has appointed a recount commission to review ballots in the race for judge of Vigo County Superior Court Division 1 between incumbent Democrat John Roach and Republican Raeanna Moore.

Judge Joseph D. Trout of Clay County Circuit Court said Wednesday that he has appointed Democrat Bridget Kelsheirmer, Republican Randy Gentry, who is the county party chairman, and voting machine mechanic Kevin Berry of RBM Consulting.

"I am going to have a pre recount and status conference on Dec. 5 in Terre Haute," Trout said.

At the conference, Trout said it will be determine if all ballots will be manually counted or if there are shortcuts that can be agreed upon to expedite the counting of more than 38,000 votes cast in the judicial race.

As an example, Trout said the Republican and Democrat recount commissioners could agree to the appointment of assistant recount commissioners to aid in counting. Additionally, Trout said he has authority to order deputy clerks with the Vigo County Clerk's Office to assist in the recount.

"We need to get this recount started next week. We are looking at about 60 hours of work unless we find a shortcut," Trout said, such as obtaining more people to count ballots.

Trout will also present a recount manual to the three appointed recount commissioners providing instructions on how to proceed and mark tally sheets. Trout said the recount must be done this month as a new judge is to be sworn in for January.

GOP challenger Raeanna Moore filed for a recount in the race for judge after election night unofficial results showed Roach appeared to have won by 63 votes.

On Nov. 18, the Vigo County Election Board examined and counted provisional ballots, finding 22 of the potential 61 ballots valid.

Of those 22 ballots, 11 went for Roach, 10 went for Moore and one person did not vote in the judicial race. The final tally had Roach winning by 64 votes. He recorded 19,499 votes, or 50.08 percent, to Moore's 19,435 votes, or 49.92 percent.

After filing for a recount, Moore said she found the difference “too close not to be recounted."

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.

Trending Video