Table Games: The Recount - CORRECTED

Correction: Initial reports incorrectly detailed the upcoming recount of the close Aug. 11 table games election. It will involve 44 precincts selected by Mia Moran-Cooper, who requested the recount, and not the first 44 on Kanawha County's roster of 175 voting precincts.

Here's a corrected breakdown separating the precincts picked for the recount from the rest:

(click to enlarge)

Moran-Cooper has selected at least 10 precincts from each of the four magisterial districts. Of the 44 she chose, 28 voted "yes," 14 voted "no" and two were split.

In each of the precincts that rejected table games, the referendum lost by fewer than 20 votes _ except for Precinct 428, at Bonham Elementary in Charleston, where it fell by 51 votes.

The margin of victory in the precincts where it won was not greater than 35 votes except for Precinct 357 in West Dunbar, where it prevailed by 109 votes.

The precincts selected include one of the 10 where poll workers failed to county early and absentee ballots (#281, Bridgeview Elementary, South Charleston), and the St. Albans precinct (#310) where votes were counted twice by mistake. The double count was corrected and the overlooked ballots validated during the canvass.

The recount will include all 3 precincts for Chesapeake and the sole precincts for Handley, Miami, Montgomery and West Dunbar. Also included are 11 St. Albans and 9 South Charleston precincts (half the total for each) and 13 precincts for Charleston (just over one-fifth of its total).

The 44 do not include any precincts in Nitro, which hosts Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, or Cross Lanes, which bears the traffic to and from the track.

Though turnout in these 44 precincts was below that of the others, the proportion of "Yes," "No" and overall votes (and registered voters, for that matter) are consistent.

Last week's canvass widened the gap between yes and no votes from the unofficial 33 announced election night to 343 votes in favor of passage.

The recount is slated for Wednesday. County Clerk Vera McCormick "expects the recount will involve about 50 workers and cost between $1,200 and $1,400 an hour," according to The Associated Press (with original reporting by The Charleston Gazette).

Moran-Cooper has financial backing from the state Council of Churches, moral support from the West Virginia Values Coalition and legal advice from Thornton Cooper.

Stephen Walker, a manager at Tri-State, filed this week to have standing in the recount. "If Moran-Cooper asks that the recount stop or waives the recounting of certain precincts, Walker can request that the recount continue," AP notes.