Opinion ID: 1436318
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Candidate Walko's Request for a Second Recanvass of the 112 Boxes

Text: Secondly, appellant Walko alleges error in the lower court's refusal to order a second recount of the ballots of 112 boxes previously recounted. Certainly the court had the power to order a second recount, Greenwood Township Election Case, 344 Pa. 350, 25 A.2d 330 (1942). However, in Passante Appeal, 447 Pa. 304, 308, 290 A.2d 69, 71 (1972) we said: This does not mean that a second recount is mandatory if some interested party alleges such a mistake, but rather that the court may order a second recount if it is convinced such a mistake occurred. Here the lower court was apparently satisfied that the computation made by the board in the first recount was correct and the record does not evidence any meritorious reason why this conclusion should not be affirmed. In view of the nature of an election where finality is of utmost importance multiple recounts should be permitted only in the face of manifest error. Here the record does not evidence any manifest error which would require reversing the lower court's refusal to order a second recount.