Washoe County Registrar of Voters weighs in on presidential recounts
RENO, Nev. (News 4) — The recount is underway in Wisconsin, while legal challenges are being waged in Pennsylvania and Michigan to stop recounts. Nevada will also see recounts in five counties, at the request of Independent Presidential Party candidate Roque De La Fuente.
Washoe County's Registrar of Voters, Luanne Cutler said, "It really does surprise me quite a bit there are recount requests. I think it's well documented and established that generally speaking, a recount doesn't overturn any sort of race."
She said it appeared to her the requests were to "make a statement" or reaffirm the integrity of the election process.
Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein said as much in statements made prior to the start of the recount in Wisconsin. She said she did not expect the results would be any different.
She added in her video statement made earlier in the week that while there was no evidence of hacking or tampering, the issues had been raised this election cycle. She said she felt it would be good for Americans to know their votes counted.
Cutler shared her insights on machine tampering saying, "Even the videos you see on YouTube or Facebook, or even the experts that have looked at the machines and say they can be hacked or altered, have all done their research in laboratory environments."
She added, "In the real world, you would not have access to the machines, and it would take an effort so monumental to alter what these machines are doing." She said, "I can't imagine anything like that ever happening, at least not here in Washoe County."
Cutler is also at odds with Stein and others about the value of hand recounts. Cutler said, "You know, a hand recount opens the doors to human error."
She explained, "Machines don't make those calls like a person might."
A judge in Wisconsin denied a hand count there. A hearing is set for Monday, December 5, in Pennsylvania. The campaign for Donald Trump filed paperwork on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 challenging the recount in Michigan.
In Nevada, De La Fuente said he was requesting the recount to counter Stein's request in Wisconsin, where Republican Donald Trump won. In Nevada, Democrat Hillary Clinton won.
The recounts will take place in Carson City, Douglas, Mineral, Nye and Clark counties.
Cutler said her office will closely watch those recounts. While she does not anticipate any problems, should there be any anomalies, it could trigger an automatic statewide recount.
