Judge approves petition for election recount

Dubois County Circuit Court Judge Nathan Verkamp has approved the Democratic Party’s petition for a recount of the votes cast in Jasper’s District Four race.

Republican candidate Vince Helming unseated incumbent Democrat Dave Hurst by a two-vote margin. You can read more about the Democratic Party’s petition here.

With the judge’s decision to allow the recount, he is now awaiting recommendations from the Democratic and Republican Party chairs for individuals to conduct the recount. Dubois County Clerk Amy Kippenbrock said she has made a recommendation for the third individual on the recount committee.

Once the committee is approved, Judge Verkamp will designate a time and place for the recount. Following state law, Judge Verkamp also ordered the sheriff to take possession of the voting records, machines and records for the election held in District Four.

According to the clerk’s office, the voting machines were already stored in a locked room at Community Corrections — they are normally stored at the security center, but, with the ongoing renovation, they were kept in Community Corrections. After the order came in from the judge on Tuesday, Kippenbrock’s office delivered some election paperwork to the sheriff to be stored there until after the recount.