RECOUNT: THOMPSON FILES FOR NEW TALLY

James L. "Jay" Thompson, who lost the Aug. 4 Democratic primary for 8th District U.S. representative by just over 200 votes, has filed a formal request for a recount in Phelps County Circuit Court at Rolla.

Jon Kiser, a Piedmont attorney who finished fourth in the six-candidate race, filed the petition on behalf of Thompson.

Thad Bullock, a retired Cape Girardeau businessman who was declared the winner, presented a handwritten response he had drafted asking the judge to dismiss Thompson's petition.

He also takes issue with the irregularities cited by Thompson in the counting of votes.

Thompson's suit names the 26 county clerks in the 8th District as defendants.

Shortly after the election, Thompson had indicated he would likely ask for a recount as soon as it was legal to do so.

A final canvass of the Aug. 4 primary election was completed by the secretary of state's office last week, which was necessary before a recount could be formally requested.

Under state law, a recount must be granted if the final margin is less than one percent. The original count showed Bullock winning by 211 votes and the final canvass made the margin 204 votes - a margin of .005 percent.

Circuit Judge John D. Wiggins has scheduled a hearing on the request at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Rolla. Bullock said Saturday he would be present at the hearing.

Bullock also agreed that state law mandates there be a recount because of the margin, but said he is optimistic when the process is complete, he will remain the Democratic nominee for Congress.

Bullock, who made his sixth try for the nomination this year, has been actively campaigning against Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson since winning the primary.

Thompson, who is retired and lives in Bourbon, said he owes it to his supporters to push for a recount. He noted it is unfortunate Missouri does not have runoffs between the top two candidates in primary elections if one does not receive at least a majority of the votes cast.

"There were some discrepancies noted in this election in several of the counties and I feel that in the absence of a runoff election we must have some assurance that the final count is correct," said Thompson.

Kiser said he believes the law should be changed to have runoffs also.

"The situation we face in the 8th District is occurring more and more all over the United States. We should consider changing Missouri's laws to permit runoff elections in cases like this," said Kiser.

"It is unfortunate, that even though the recount could change the results of this election, there will still be less than 51 percent of the vote deciding who represents Democrats in our district."

Bullock and Thompson each got about 24 percent of the votes cast.

In his petition, Thompson alleges that "county clerks in and for the counties comprising the 8th U.S. Congressional District of Missouri, improperly counted the votes for the plaintiff and defendant."

He also charges that county clerks "counted improperly marked ballots and failed to properly count absentee ballots and there was human error and mechanical failure in tabulating the vote totals for the plaintiff and defendant Thad Bullock."

In St. Francois County, Thompson charges that County Clerk Arthur J. Hulsey included in the count 197 or more defective or spoiled ballots that should have been omitted from the vote count.

Thompson also charges that there were a variety of other irregularities in the counting of votes.

Thompson's petition asks the judge to either declare after a recount that he won the primary election or that a new primary election be held.

Steve Byers, director of elections for the secretary of state's office, indicated recently that his office would attempt to complete any recount as quickly as possible. Since most counties use some type of computerized voting system, Byers said he did not expect the process to take long once it is ordered by a court.