Recount ordered in tight Commonwealth Court race

    A ballot recount will be held in the contest for the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, the AP reports.

    The Department of State yesterday released returns showing Doylestown lawyer Kathryn Boockvar beating Pittsburgh lawyer Barbara Behrend Ernsberger by 2,116 votes out of 621,132 cast in the May 17th primary election.

    That’s a small enough margin to trigger Pennsylvania’s automatic recount law. Ernsberger said yesterday that she would not waive a recount, so Secretary of State Carole Aichele  ordered the 67 counties to proceed with one.

    State officials say the last statewide recount, in 2009, cost taxpayers more than a half-million dollars.

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    Aichele says mandatory recounts in such close races build citizen confidence in the election process.

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