Ballot recounts "wasted money, time and effort." Well ... maybe not

Poking fun at selective criticism ... like selective outrage ... is such fun. And we like to poke fun at both Democrats and Republicans when they are selective in their complaints.

What prompted this entry? The decision by Democrat Joan Barry to formally request a recount in her very close Senate race loss to Republican Jim Lembke. Barry lost by just 76 votes in a race that saw 88,362 ballots cast.

The Missouri Republican Party sent out a press release criticizing Barry's decisio to challenge the count:

Democrat Joan Barry formally requested a recount today in her failed bid for the First Senatorial District. What does this mean to taxpayers? Wasted money, time and effort by public employees.

"The people of the First Senatorial District have spoken and it is unfortunate that Barry cannot accept defeat," said Tina Hervey, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. "President-elect Obama has not requested a recount and has indicated that he will not even though he was entitled to do so because he understood that the outcome would not change and that thousands of dollars and taxpayer resources would be wasted. It is sad that Joan Barry is not following his example."

Jim Lembke won the election in a close contest. Experts have said that there is no chance this recount will change the outcome of the election.

That could be viewed as legitimate by a lot of folks who think taxpayer dollars should not be spent on recounts ... but we now have another challenge to the vote count. This one comes from Republican State Representative Vicki Schneider who lost by just 74 votes to Democrat Kenny Biermann in the race in the 17th House District in an election that saw 21,816 ballots cast. Interestingly enough ... no press release from the MRC. Methinks selective criticism is at play here.

- Steve Walsh

Comments

[Jillian]

Or it costs about 5 times more to challenge a Senate Race.

[LU 95]

It has been published that the St. Charles County race that Ms. Schneider has requested a recount will cost thirty-thousand dollars. "That's more than some hard working people earn in a year." from the movie "Brewster's Millions."