Republican Wins Idaho House Seat After a Computer Glitch Is Corrected
A GOP candidate has managed a victory in Idaho after election officials discover and corrected a computer glitch.
According to reports, the race was initially scored as a Democratic victory for the state House, but it has now been designated a Republican win.
“Chief Deputy Secretary of State Chad Houck said the House seat representing Jerome, Blaine and Lincoln counties went to Republican Jack Nelsen, not Democrat Karma Metzler Fitzgerald, after more than 700 votes were added to the count on the state website late Thursday morning. The Associated Press has yet to call this race,” The Associated Press reported Thursday.
“Houck said Jerome County officials noticed vote totals on the secretary of state’s website didn’t match their count for the district — District 26. Houck said his office worked with county officials starting Wednesday and discovered a glitch that prevented early votes in the county from being tallied on the state’s website,” the report added.
Initially, the results had Nelsen losing by several hundred votes, but after authorities found and corrected the glitch, he eked out an 83-vote win.
“It was a job I was meant to do, and I’m crushed,” Fitzgerald said, adding that she was looking forward to spending taxpayer money on pre-school, daycare and after-school programs. She told the AP that she will likely request a recount but pushed back on suggestions that vote fraud occurred.
“I don’t have any idea,” she said. “My hurt feelings are skeptical, but, practically, I think everybody is just trying to do the best that they can.”
Nelsen, backed by former Republican Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, said he will wait for state election authorities to make the results official before claiming victory.
“If we learned anything, preliminary results are just that,” he said. “I like today’s preliminary results better than yesterday’s.”
The AP added:
The change also narrowed the margin of victory in the other two legislative races in the district, but didn’t change those outcomes, Houck said.
