Bates Pins Last Hope on a Vote Recount : Election: Congressman to pay for challenge of ‘provisional’ ballots in his narrow loss to Cunningham.

Raising questions about the legality of some of the ballots cast, Rep. Jim Bates on Wednesday formally requested a recount of this month’s 44th Congressional District, in which he was narrowly defeated by Randall (Duke) Cunningham.

In an admittedly last-gasp bid to retain the seat he has held since 1982, the San Diego Democrat informed county Registrar of Voters Conny McCormack that he is willing to pay for a recount that will focus on the propriety of an undetermined number of so-called “provisional” ballots cast in the Nov. 6 race.

Barring the unlikely wholesale disqualification of those ballots, chances are slim that the recount will reverse Bates’ 1,665-vote upset loss to Cunningham in his southern San Diego district. Final official vote totals released Wednesday by the registrar’s office showed that Cunningham outpolled Bates, 50,377 votes (46.3%) to 48,712 votes (44.8%), with about 9,600 additional ballots going to two minor-party candidates.

Provisional ballots are ones cast at polling places on Election Day about which there are validity questions, usually for one of two reasons. If, for example, a person claims to be a registered voter but is not listed on a particular polling place’s roster, he is allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which is counted only after election officials later confirm that the individual is, indeed, registered.

Other individuals who show up to vote may have previously requested an absentee ballot, which causes an “A” to be placed next to their name on the polling place’s list. Unless they turn over the uncompleted absentee ballot to polling officials, they, too, must vote via a provisional ballot, which later is checked against absentee ballots to verify that the person did not vote twice.

In asking for the recount, Bates aide Dena Holman said, the congressman was motivated primarily by “questions involving the reconciliation of provisional ballots (which) were left unanswered by the registrar” in tabulating the votes in the 44th District.

But Assistant Registrar Ingrid Gonzales said election officials feel confident that they properly verified the authenticity of the provisional ballots that were counted.

“It didn’t leave any questions unanswered in our mind,” Gonzales said.

If the recount simply reconfirms his loss, Bates would have one final option available: a legal challenge to the provisional ballots. That possibility will hinge largely on whether the recount demonstrates any widespread problem with the provisional ballots, as well as on the practical consideration of whether a large enough number were cast to affect the outcome.

The recount, expected to start next week, will cost Bates’ campaign committee an estimated $1,640 per day and last about nine days, Gonzales said. If the initial stages of the recount do not change the vote totals, causing Bates to conclude that proceeding with it would be fruitless, he could withdraw his request at any time in order to save money.