Politics & Government

Fairfax County Electoral Board: Recounts Begin Dec. 16 in Two Races

Electoral Board Secretary Brian Schoenman explains the process for the recount, which will take place for the attorney general and one delegate race.

It's official — recounts will begin before Christmas for two races that appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The race for Virginia's attorney general — first thought to be won by Republican Mark Obenshain in early vote counts, and later called for Democrat Mark Herring after canvassing — will begin its recount on Dec. 17, as ordered by a judge for the Richmond Circuit Court. The judge overseeing the recount will be Beverly W. Snukals, as reported by the Washington Post.

Find out what's happening in Greater Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the Post, the judge overseeing the recount would normally be Bradley C. Cavedo, chief judge of the Richmond Circuit Court, but Cavedo recused himself last week, possibly because of close ties to the Obenshain family.

According to Fairfax County Electoral Board Secretary Brian Schoenman, the recount will begin in Fairfax County on Dec. 16. 

Find out what's happening in Greater Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The county will be recounting the attorney general's race as well as the race between candidates the 86th House District, Democrat Jennifer Boysko and Republican incumbent Del. Tom Rust.

The 86th District is comprised mostly of Herndon, as well as parts of the Oak Hill area and Sterling.

After the state certified the election, Rust, who has held the seat since 2002, had won by just 54 votes, or 0.26 percent of the nearly 21,000 votes cast in the district. That qualified Boysko to request a state-funded recount, which she officially filed for on Tuesday.

In the above video, Schoenman details the process Fairfax County will go through in its part in the recount. The video was filmed shortly before Boysko filed for a recount in the 86th District.

Note: If the video screen above looks blank, refresh the page once and the video should appear. If not, you can watch it on YouTube here.


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