Kanawha Awaits Canvass of Gambling Referendum

Secretary of State Betty Ireland is asking West Virginia's 55 county clerks what they think of the law that requires voting precincts to count paper ballots, her chief of staff tells The Associated Press.

The state's chief elections officer is surveying her county-level counterparts in the wake of 438 missed paper ballots from Saturday's table games referendum in Kanawha County.

Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick and her office have caught flak, given the hotly debated topic of gambling and the unofficial, 33-vote margin in favor of passage.

"I know people are upset," McCormick tells AP. "I don't want them to feel they can't trust the electoral process."

The Charleston Gazette highlights said flak, and hears from those stepping up to defend her. The newspaper also reports that the mandatory canvas of the Aug. 11 vote will likely begin Friday as an "all-day ordeal."

The Charleston Daily Mail has a story previewing the canvass as well. Both papers note that it will also feature delegations from both Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center, which seeks the table games, and an anti-gambling coalition of churches and social conservatives.

Tri-State and West Virginia's three other tracks argue table games will help them blunt competition from neighboring states. Pennsylvania began opening slot machine casinos last year.

Maryland may not be far behind, according to AP: a report commissioned by its governor concludes the state could reduce its budget deficit with the millions in potential tax revenue it is losing to the video lottery machines at West Virginia's tracks.

Update: the Daily Mail also talks to workers from some of the precincts that failed to count votes.