James: Will wait for provisional ballot count

Published 11:13 pm Thursday, June 3, 2010

MONTGOMERY(AP) — Tim James said Thursday he will wait for more than 1,000 provisional ballots to be counted before he decides if he wants a recount of the Republican primary for governor.

The unofficial count from Tuesday’s primary shows James in third place, trailing second-place finisher Robert Bentley by 208 votes. Bradley Byrne ran first and is in the runoff, which will be held July 13.

At a news conference in his Montgomery campaign headquarters, James urged everyone who cast a provisional ballot to get to their county board of registrars by Friday afternoon with proper identification to make sure their vote gets counted next week.

Bentley’s campaign used Facebook and Twitter to urge his supporters to do the same thing.

Many of the provisional ballots were cast by people who didn’t provide a proper ID or failed to meet some other voting requirement.

Asked what he would do if he comes in third, James refused to say whether he would seek a recount. “Right now, we are going to focus on the ballots cast by the people of Alabama,” he said.

Bentley’s spokesman, Steven Berry, said provisional ballots have not changed close elections in the past in Alabama and aren’t going to do it this time. “We’re going to be number two,” he said.

Berry said Bentley is so confident that he is working on fundraising for the runoff and is looking at increasing the size of his staff.