Jan 16, 2008 5:30 pm US/Eastern
N.H. Democratic Primary Recount Under Way
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS) ―
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Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton smiles at New Hampshire supporters in Manchester as she announces her primary victory Jan. 8, 2008.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner says his office is ready for Wednesday's recount of New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary.
Democrat Dennis Kucinich has paid $27,000 to Gardner's office to start the recount. Election officials tell CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston that the recount could take up to a month.
Kucinich, who received less than two percent of the vote, says he is suspicious of the results, although he doesn't expect a recount to change his vote count much. Kucinich alluded to online reports alleging disparities around the state between hand-counted ballots, which tended to favor Sen. Barack Obama, and machine-counted ones that tended to favor Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. He also noted the difference between pre-election polls, which indicated Obama would win, and Clinton's triumph by a 39 percent to 37 percent margin.
Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said Kucinich is entitled to a statewide recount. But, he had "every confidence" the results are accurate.
Kucinich has asked that the recount start with Manchester ballots and spread out from there to other Hillsborough County precincts. He can stop the recount and get a refund for the balance of the costs. To recount the entire state would cost him about $70,000.
Republican Albert Howard, of Michigan, also has asked for a recount but has not paid for it yet.
Gardner says he will get started with the Democratic recount and if Howard comes up with the money later, he will consider the request then.
The recount to began Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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