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Alabama governor calls for recount
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- Alabama's incumbent Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman asked for a statewide recount Thursday to determine who won Tuesday's election after he and Republican challenger Bob Riley both declared victory. The confusion over who won stems from two sets of numbers reported by one heavily Republican district. "Either way, it comes down to just 3,000 votes out of approximately 1,360,000 votes cast," Siegelman said to reporters. "That's just two-tenths of 1 percent of the total vote cast in this election. Such a small margin would have already triggered a recount in 12 states." Seeking a recount is the only fair way to determine the winner, he said. Siegelman, 56, had already begun discussing upcoming programs for the state, and Riley, 58, had already received a congratulatory phone call from President Bush. "The president of the United States called in, and he said 'Bob, with 3,000 votes, that's a landslide compared to some races,'" Riley said. Riley's campaign had no immediate comment on Siegelman's call for a recount. Tuesday, figures originally reported by Baldwin County, near Mobile on Alabama's Gulf Coast, showed Siegelman received about 19,000 votes. That made him the state's winner by two-tenths of 1 percent. But hours after the polls closed, Baldwin officials said the first number was wrong, and that Siegelman had received just fewer than 13,000 votes. Those figures made Riley the winner by about 3,000 votes. Chuck Grainger, general counsel for the Alabama secretary of state, said a computer glitch led to the first figure. The glitch was fixed, and the latter figure of 13,000 has been certified by Baldwin County. Siegelman, however, said he believed a small group of vote-counters recounted the ballots after official poll watchers had gone home, in defiance of state law. He said no other candidates on the ballot saw their totals change. "I ask for a statewide recount of every vote in this election -- a recount of every vote in every precinct, of every vote in every county," Siegelman said. "Let's recount all of the votes and discover once and for all who was the legitimate winner of Tuesday's election." He also asked for Baldwin County to recount its votes by hand, saying that was the fairest way to resolve the dispute. "This is not about Bob Riley or Don Siegelman," he said. "It's about the people of Alabama. It's about the people's right to know that their vote has been fairly counted." Even after any recount, there might be further delays in determining a winner. Any voter may file a complaint, which would then be heard by the new state Legislature when it convenes in January. Alabama state elections supervisor Ed Packard said it is possible that voters disappointed in the outcome of the election will take their case to court. Siegelman, a statewide office holder for most of the past 25 years, won the governor's office four years ago by knocking off incumbent Gov. Fob James, a Republican. He had recently been dogged by charges of cronyism, a gloomy economy and a stagnant schools crisis, and was seen as the most endangered Democratic governor seeking re-election this year. Riley, a three-term congressman, is a staunch conservative who nonetheless won over a traditional Democratic constituency in his House district with a folksy appeal. Though he was forced to spend heavily in a costly three-way primary in June, Bush came to his rescue in the summer by traveling to Alabama and raising $4 million for Riley in one day. Siegelman was well funded throughout the campaign. Copyright 2002 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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