House Task Force Vote Favors Democrat : Shouting Match Marks Split Decision in Disputed Indiana Race

In a vote characterized by bouts of shouting and table pounding between two California congressmen, a Democratic-controlled House task force adopted an official recount Monday that awarded a four-vote victory to Democratic Rep. Frank McCloskey in Indiana’s long-disputed congressional race.

The task force, on a 2-1 vote, rejected its lone Republican member’s call for a special election in Indiana’s 8th District and sent the bitterly contested four-month-old dispute to the House Administration Committee. A committee vote is expected later this week.

Heated Exchange

As observers gasped and guffawed, California Reps. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) and Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) heatedly clashed over whether to adopt a report by the General Accounting Office that McCloskey had defeated Republican Richard D. McIntyre by 116,645 votes to 116,641.

The session began calmly enough but soon become inflamed by partisan passions in front of a crowded media contingent. At one point, reflecting his frustration after losing numerous procedural votes to Panetta and fellow Democratic Rep. William L. Clay of Missouri, Thomas incredulously asked Panetta: “Do we have to take a 2-to-1 vote on whether I can ask a question?”

‘Your Candidate Didn’t Win’

“No matter how you break this, your candidate didn’t win,” an uncharacteristically irate Panetta said a few minutes later, drowning out Thomas’ loud objections at the height of the shouting match. “You’re not going to be satisfied until you’ve played out this whole angle. You wouldn’t have done this if your candidate had won, that’s for damn sure.”

“I appreciated your suspension of counting when your candidate was ahead,” Thomas retorted sarcastically.

Until last week’s House-ordered recount, McIntyre twice had been declared the winner of the contest: by 34 votes immediately after last November’s election and by 418 votes after a recount ordered by Indiana’s Republican secretary of state.

The task force and the GAO have sought to sort out what was seen as an inconsistent procedure for validating disputed absentee ballots, but Thomas charged Monday that the task force had arbitrarily decided which of those ballots to count. He called for a special election unless all such ballots, numbering between 10 and 50, are counted.

Inconsistencies on Notarization

Indiana law requires that voters have absentee ballots notarized or witnessed before they can be counted. According to Thomas, the task force counted unnotarized ballots that were forwarded to precinct officials but not similar ballots that were held at county clerks’ offices.

These uncounted ballots “were cast by living, breathing, fully registered individuals,” he said.

Panetta and Clay asserted that Thomas was “conveniently changing his position,” although Panetta later made several largely unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation.

“Either side would have argued that there are additional votes out there,” he said. “There is no pleasing both sides, unless it was a draw.”