City Councilor Theresa Stehly has until 5 PM on Tuesday to file her re-count intentions. As far as I know she intends to do that. After that Jensen has 3 days to pick a representative (likely a lawyer) in which I’m not even sure if he has one yet, because who I thought it might be may have backed out.
The city clerk also has 3 days to pick an independent person for review (likely an outside attorney). Some names in that ballpark have been thrown around, but nothing definitive. One of the names I heard is a real rat, and I am being kind. Either way, Stehly and Jensen must both agree on the independent person, so that process could take a few days.
After that I suspect some silly motions in court to stop the recount before it starts on a technicality. I’m not sure if that would hold up in court since a recount can be called within a 2% margin and I believe the margin in this race was around .05%. There will also be a legal battle about what votes can be reviewed and looked at, like undervotes and spoiled ballots. There is also the possibility of absentee ballots that arrived on Tuesday before 7 PM that didn’t get opened and counted (I think these ballots are the lynchpin because Stehly won the absentee ballot part of the race).
Once the logistics of what votes can be counted then the counting can start, which I don’t think will last more than 2-3 days. But who knows at this point. I suspect the process all together could take 2-3 weeks. Stehly remains on the council until the process is finished and an installation ceremony is scheduled, which I suspect will be almost immediate, especially if Jensen wins.
While some don’t have much confidence Stehly can turn the tide, I actually am hopeful she can and been having a weird feeling lately that she will. I’ve never felt this confident about an election before. Of course all the stars will have to align, and we know that isn’t possible because of the hatred towards Stehly and her policy ideas. If the re-count happens, this will be more explosive than the fireworks at Mt. Rushmore and a historic moment in city politics. If anything, it will be a fun one to watch.