Reported by: Shannon Kettler
Photographed by: Shannon Kettler
Web produced by: Kerry Duke
A recanvas in the state Senate race between Republican incumbent Jack Westwood and Democratic challenger Kathy Groob arrived at the same result on Thursday: Westwood won.
The recanvas -- conducted by the Kenton County Clerk’s Office -- checked the math on all of the tapes of the voting machines used in the 75 voting precincts in the tight senate race.
The recanvas came after the Kenton County Board of Elections recounted the votes by hand last Wednesday.
On Election Day, voters notified officials after they couldn't cast a vote on the straight party ticket on more than 80 E-slate machines. That prompted a decision not to use the machines in the election.
Kenton County Clerk Rodney Eldridge said the results showed the same numbers declaring Westwood was the winner but still there were lessons to learn from the tight race.
"It will make us be a little bit more cautious, a whole lot more cautious I should say, the next time around to make sure there are no problems,” said Eldridge. “And we want the voters of Kenton County to know this that all their votes were counted this time and in the future we will take necessary steps to ensure this won't happen again."
The final numbers were 21,057 for Jack Westwood and 20,250 for Kathy Groob. The difference is 807 votes.
Groob said she still has questions about the process including absentee votes. She said she is not sure if she will continue to pursue contesting the results.
