When someone loses an election by a landslide, most voters feel a measure of confidence that their voice was heard and the election turned out the way it was supposed to turn out.

However, when a candidate loses to an opponent by a mere three votes, and there were documented problems with the way some ballots were electronically scanned and tabulated, it sends up a red flag.

That is exactly what happened in the last general election in Carroll County. The election board decided to recount several races for township advisory board and those results were certified Nov. 20. Per Indiana statute, party chairs were allowed the opportunity to request recounts up to noon on Nov. 27.

Republican Party Chairman Tom Gray met the deadline and filed a petition with the county clerk requesting a recount in the Liberty and Jackson townships advisory board races.

"Every machine has a slight margin of error," Gray said. "In both townships, the race was only three votes different."

"I felt like we should do a recount to know the results were true," he added.

The petition names Tom Gray as the petitioner and the Carroll County

Election Board, consisting of Laura Sterrett, Sam Deiwert and Gil Smith, and Laura Sterrett in her capacity as clerk of Carroll County as the respondents.

The petition, given cause number 08C01-0611-MI6-7, was forwarded to Carroll Circuit Court for action. Per Indiana Code, Judge Donald Currie will appoint a three-member recount commission and set a per diem rate for each member to be paid for each recount.

Gray provided $200 of his own money to hold as a bond or deposit against the cost of the recount. IC 3-12- 6-17.5 (a) states: "If the amount of the cash deposit or bond available under

section 10 of this chapter is not adequate to pay the compensation of the recount commission under section 17 of this chapter, a member of the recount commission is entitled to compensation from the county general fund without appropriation..." Section (b) states: "Any other cost of the recount that remains unpaid following the determination of the recount commission and which cannot be recovered from the cash deposit or bond shall be paid from the county general fund without appropriation."

Gray said two of the three members of the Republican Central Committee, secretary Beth Myers and vice president Neda K. Duff, were aware of the action.

"They didn't tell me I shouldn't do this," he said.

According to county clerk Laura Sterrett, Indiana Code provides for the recount commission to be comprised of two voters who are members of different major political parties and both qualified to vote in the last county election, plus one member of the state's major political party. The third member of the commission must be competent and familiar with the voting system.

"This may or may not change the results," Gray said. "But all candidates deserve an accurate count."