Portsmouth candidate asks for recount in School Board race; cost estimated at $10K-plus

PORTSMOUTH — School Board candidate Genevieve Becksted Muske filed a formal request for a recount late Thursday afternoon, according to the city clerk’s office.

Becksted Muske, the sister of former Mayor Rick Becksted, finished fifth in the race for four open School Board seats, according to official results from the city’s Nov. 7 election.

She fell short of winning a seat on the School Board by “exactly 70 votes,” according to Valerie French, deputy city clerk.

The clerk’s office is prepared to hold the recount on Monday, Nov. 27, French said.

Reached Friday morning, Becksted Muske said, “I’d rather not say” when asked why she requested the recount, and then ended the interview.

The winners of the four open School Board seats were incumbent Pip Clews (2,625 votes), Patricia "Tish" Campbell (2,544), Byron Matto (2,324) and David "Leigh" Hudson (1,643), according to the city’s official results.

Becksted Muske finished next with 1,573 votes, followed by Bill Blum with 1,553 and Dan Freund with 978.

The School Board candidate had until the end of the day Thursday to ask for the recount, according to French, who said she came in about 3:30 to make her request official.

French estimated that it would likely cost the city “more than $10,000” to perform the recount, and the clerk’s office will have to be closed all day during the process.

“Kelli (Barnaby, city clerk) had been reviewing the records for 2007, which was the last time we did a recount and it cost $7,500,” she said.

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Clerk’s office employees will be validating all the School Board ballots by hand, French said.

“We hope to have five to six teams of two doing the counting and tabulating,” she said.

The City Council will hold a short special meeting Monday night to “confirm the recount request,” according to Mayor Deaglan McEachern.

“I think it’s within her rights both under the New Hampshire Constitution and city charter as a candidate for School Board to request a recount,” he said Friday morning.

But he added that “there’s been many elections much closer that there has not been a recount for."

Asked about her decision to file for the recount, McEachern said, “It’s tough to spend ten grand on something and close the clerk’s office for the day. Folks are going to be disappointed when they show up to get a marriage license or a birth certificate and then can’t do it. If it was me I wouldn’t be requesting a recount."

He does not believe Becksted Muske will make up the 70 votes.

He also credited the clerk’s office for their diligent work on elections, saying “they do an amazing job, a really, really amazing job.”

“Again, she has the right to do this, but the right comes with consequences for the city of Portsmouth in terms of money and time,” he said.

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City Councilor Andrew Bagley said the recount request “feels a little wasteful of city resources.”

He believes the 70-vote margin does not warrant a recount, while acknowledging “it’s obviously her right to request it.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH candidate asks for recount in School Board race