Countywide : Sumner Gets More Votes in Recount’s Second Day
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In the second day of recounting ballots in the 40th Congressional District Democratic primary, write-in candidate Bruce Sumner continued to narrow the lead of Art Hoffmann, who had won the race based on certified results.
By the end of the working day Friday, Sumner, Orange County Democratic Party chief, had picked up an additional 48 votes, bringing him to within 82 votes of Hoffmann, a supporter of political extremist Lyndon R. LaRouche.
So far, ballots in 70 of the district’s 705 precincts have been counted by workers in the Orange County Registrar’s office.
Sumner, a retired judge, ran a well-financed write-in campaign to prevent Hoffmann from getting the party’s nomination to oppose the Republican incumbent, Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), in the November general election.
Sumner appeared to have won the June 3 primary by a 1,459-vote margin, based on a machine count of write-in votes. But a subsequent tally by hand that was certified as the final count made Hoffmann the victor by a mere 267 votes, 15,143 to 14,876,
The recount by the registrar of voters’ office was requested by Sumner, who cited irregularities at precinct polling places.
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