Ballot recounts underway

Broward judicial races, seat on School Board remain undecided

LAUDERHILL — With two races too close to call, a machine recount was under way Sunday at the Supervisor of Elections warehouse in Lauderhill.

A recount was required for School Board candidates Donna Korn, Elijah Manley and Ryan Petty for the atlarge seat and also for judicial candidates Richard Kaplan and Michael Usan.

Kaplan and Usan, a circuit judge seeking reelection, kept a close eye on things Sunday morning.

“I want to make sure the votes are counted accurately,” Kaplan told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I’m here to make sure we get a fair recount.”

Usan declined comment, saying he wanted to wait until the count was over.

The machine recounts began at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and continued at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at the supervisor’s offices at the Lauderhill

Mall.

With election staff facing exhaustion, work stopped shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday. The recount will resume at 6 a.m. Monday, said Fred Bellis, a spokesman for the Supervisor of Elections Office.

If warranted, a hand recount will begin Monday at 11 a.m.

Kaplan said he went to bed Tuesday night thinking he’d won Tuesday’s race by more than 750 votes. But by Wednesday afternoon, Usan was in the lead.

“All 577 precincts had reported in and I figured the election was done,” Kaplan said. “I was a little surprised when things changed the next day.”

Usan is now in the lead by 331 votes, according to the numbers posted at 1:45 p.m. Sunday on the Supervisor of Elections website.

Kaplan says he asked Supervisor of Elections

Brenda Snipes what was going on Wednesday and was told 5,000 absentee ballots had arrived late on Tuesday — but before the 7 p.m. deadline — and had yet to be counted.

If Kaplan doesn’t win the race, he said he plans to run again — but it might not be for judge.

His next race might be for the Supervisor of Elections seat, he said.

Snipes was not available for comment Sunday. She’d been working all weekend and was on a break when the Sun Sentinel visited the warehouse Sunday.

PHOTOS BY JOE CAVARETTA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Candidates for Broward Circuit Court Judge Richard Kaplan, right, and Michael Usan, left, attend ballot recount with Joe D'Alessandro, center, of the Supervisor of Elections office.

Judge Mindy Solomon looks over ballots Sunday.