Anne E. Lazarus of Philadelphia Wins Fourth Open Seat

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anne E. Lazarus of Philadelphia won the fourth Superior Court seat open in the Nov. 3 election, according to the results of a statewide recount of votes announced today by Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes.

Unofficial returns previously reported by the counties indicated Lazarus had won, but three other candidates trailed her by less than one-half of 1 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office. The close margin triggered a recount in all 67 counties -- the first required by 2004 amendments to Pennsylvania's Election Code.

All 67 counties have declared the recount is complete and have submitted vote totals to the state.

"I thank the counties and their election boards for working diligently to complete the recount on a timely basis," Cortes said. "I am encouraged that the state's first recount confirmed the election was conducted in a fair and accurate manner."

Nine candidates sought the four open seats on the Superior Court on Nov. 3. Judy Olson, Sallie Mundy, Paula Ott and Anne E. Lazarus received the four highest vote totals.

The returns provided by the counties in the recount are as follows:

• Judy Olson: 954,065
• Sallie Mundy: 870,091
• Paula Ott: 807,327
• Anne E. Lazarus: 726,917
• Robert J. Colville: 724,830
• Temp Smith: 723,117
• Kevin Francis McCarthy: 714,237
• Teresa Sarmina: 690,682
• Marakay Rogers: 127,492

A variety of factors contributed to minor differences between the vote totals calculated in the recount and those reported in unofficial returns, most notably absentee ballots, military overseas ballots and provisional ballots.

The final cost of the recount will not be known until all counties submit requests for payment.

Unofficial elections returns are available through www.dos.state.pa.us by clicking on the elections returns graphic on the right-hand side of the page.

For more information on elections and voter registration, call the Department of State's toll-free hotline at 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772) or visit www.VOTESPA.com.

Media contacts:

Leslie Amoros, 717-576-4520

Charlie Young, 717-649-7617

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

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http://www.dos.state.pa.us