Lake Charles City Court Judge John Hood gained two votes when the results from Saturday’s election were recounted Thursday, Calcasieu Clerk of Court Lynn Jones said.

Challenger Ron Richard, who lost by 125 votes in the initial tally (12,361 to 12,236), requested the recount. Hood’s numbers increased to 12,363 Thursday, while Richard’s dropped to 12,234, Jones said.

“I wanted to be sure a thorough and fair count of all the votes had taken place, and we now know that has indeed happened,” Richard said. “I want to thank the folks at the Clerk of Court’s Office and the registrar of voters. They’ve done their job, and they’ve done it well.”

“The recount process was handled very professionally,” said Walt Sanchez, who managed Hood’s campaign. “Mr. Richard’s representative could not have been nicer. Hopefully at this point, the results will be respected and we can move forward.”

While more than 24,000 votes were cast, those recounted were 715 mail-in ballots. The two votes that changed could have been the result of human error or the fault of a scanner used on election night, Jones said.

With the rest of Calcasieu Parish’s voting done electronically, though, the possibility for major changes in numbers is unlikely, Jones said. When the machines were mechanical, those reporting the votes would sometimes transpose numbers, but with electronic machines, election-night workers bring voting machine cartridges to the clerk’s office, where a computer compiles the numbers.

“That’s why the mail-in ballots are really the only area where there is room for human error,” Jones said. “Even though no elections are 100 percent perfect all the time, Louisiana, and especially Calcasieu Parish, has one of the best election processes in the country.”(MGNonline)