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Down by 25 votes, Pa. state rep. seeks recount

With official results showing that Democrat Carolyn Comitta won a Chester County state House race by a mere 25 votes, her GOP rival, three-term Rep. Dan Truitt, on Monday asked a County Court judge to order a recount.

With official results showing that Democrat Carolyn Comitta won a Chester County state House race by a mere 25 votes, her GOP rival, three-term Rep. Dan Truitt, on Monday asked a County Court judge to order a recount.

On Friday, the counting of 14 contested provisional ballots, ordered by Judge Jacqueline Cody, increased Comitta's lead in the 156th District contest by eight votes, but Truitt said at least one of those was questionable.

"That was one of 14," Truitt said Monday. "If 36,000 votes are reconsidered, "it will probably move more than 25. It's just a 50-50 shot which direction they move."

Comitta had asked for the counting of the provisional ballots even though she had held a razor-thin lead, arguing that every vote should count.

Truitt said he expected Cody to act on his recount request "in the next day or two."

One countywide recount is complete, according to Rebecca Brain, county spokeswoman. She said the Department of Voter Services examined all of the votes counted in the presidential race, producing almost no change in the results.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the county with 51.9 percent of the vote, to 42.3 percent for her GOP rival, President-elect Donald Trump.

cshaw@philly.com

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@coltshaw_