Ensign huddles with staff to ponder recount

Monday, Nov. 30, 1998 | 11:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Pressured by his Republican Party, Rep. John Ensign huddled with his staff this morning to decide whether he should seek a recount of the votes in the election that he lost by 401 votes to Sen. Harry Reid.

Ensign's press secretary Jack Finn said a press conference would probably be held later today in Las Vegas on the decision. Staff members say the two-term Republican congressman has been encouraged both by the Nevada and national GOP to continue his fight to overturn the Reid victory.

Reid says a recount won't overturn the results, and he's been concentrating on winning the post of whip in the Democratic Senate minority. That votes comes Tuesday, and Reid thinks he has the job wrapped up.

The deadline for requesting a recount is 5 p.m. Wednesday, but Ensign decided he would make the announcement today.

Dan Burdish, executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, said, "With so many questions and such a small margin of victory, it is incumbent upon Rep. Ensign to leave no stone un-turned in making sure the vote count is accurate."

The Nevada Supreme Court last Wednesday canvassed the vote showing Ensign won 15 of the 17 counties in Nevada but trailed Reid 208,621 to 208,220. Reid carried Clark and Mineral counties only.

Since the election, the battle centered on Washoe County where Republicans claim there have been too many errors and questions to assure an accurate count.

It will be a long shot for Ensign to overturn the outcome however. A recount in a general statewide election in Nevada has never changed the outcome. In addition, the recount will tally only those votes that were counted before -- not the hundreds the GOP claims were missed.

In 1974 Reid lost to Paul Laxalt in the Senate race by 624 votes. A recount showed the final margin was 611 votes. Laxalt was defeated in 1964 by Sen. Howard Cannon by 48 votes. A second tally widened the Cannon margin to 84 votes.

Cost of the recount is expected to cost between $75,000 and $90,000 and must be deposited in advance. Ensign had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to ask for the recount.

The recount procedures calls for the losing candidate to select 5 percent of the precincts in a county for another tally. These must be hand counted and then added up by the computer. If there is a more than 1 percent difference from the official vote, than the whole county must be tallied by hand.

The law says the recount starts within five days after the demand and must be completed within five days.