Dornan to Seek Recount Today

The Orange County registrar of voters certified local results of the general election Tuesday, and Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) promptly announced that he will ask for a recount in his narrow loss to Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

Registrar Rosalyn Lever said she forwarded the certification to the Board of Supervisors and secretary of state’s office in Sacramento and both are expected to record the final tallies next week.

Lever said there were no changes in the totals released by her office last week for all local races.

“I certified the results today,” she said. “The certification states that we counted all the votes cast.”

No sooner had she announced the certification than Dornan said that he will formally ask for a recount today in the 46th District race. The longtime congressman attributed his Nov. 5 loss to voter fraud, alleging that noncitizens voted and ballot boxes were not properly sealed when the polls closed.

“I am going to file for a recount,” Dornan said. “I have talked to lawyers. The battle will be very expensive, but this campaign has re-energized my mailing list and I will raise the money.”

Lever said that Dornan will have to pay for a recount. The cost is $358-per-day for a four-member counting board. Dornan can ask for as many boards as he wants, which might hasten the counting, she said.

“We haven’t seen a request from Dornan yet, but he has five days from today [Tuesday] to ask for a recount if he wants one,” Lever said.

Dornan said he will ask the registrar’s office to begin the recount by checking absentee ballots in the 69th Assembly District to assure that the signatures on those ballots match the signatures of the registered voters under whose name they were issued.