Some people have criticized Gov. Matt Bevin for asking for a recanvass following his nearly 5,200-vote loss to Andy Beshear in last week’s election, but I think this is entirely appropriate given that the race was decided by less than 1 percent of the vote. Had Beshear lost by 5,200 votes, it would have been equally appropriate for him to ask for a recanvass as well.
A recanvass essentially involves all of the county clerk’s offices in the state rechecking their math, and making sure that no vote totals were added wrong on election night. It also involves double-checking to make sure that the totals from all voting machines were added into the final tally.
In this day and age, a recanvass is unlikely to change vote totals significantly, or perhaps at all, which is a good thing. This doesn’t mean that doing a recanvass is unimportant. It is good to do so in close races so the public can have confidence in the election’s results.
