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The Associated Press reported that a runoff election for the 4^th seat on the state Superior Court could begin this coming Monday, unless one of the three trailing candidates, Temp Smith, waives his right to the recount by tomorrow.

State law provides that an automatic recount is triggered if any candidate trails the winner by less than one-half of 1 percent, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. All three trailing candidates would have to waive their right to a recount to stop the automatic process. To date, two of the three (Allegheny County Judge Robert J. Colville (D) and Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Kevin F. McCarthy (D)) have sent in letters saying that they will waive their rights if all the others do as well.  Mt. Lebanon lawyer Temp Smith (R) is the only candidate who has not yet waived. If the elections results stand, Judge Anne Lazarus (D) will take the 4^th seat, leading 5^th place contender Judge Colville by a mere 2,006 votes.

Judge Colville explained his reasoning for deciding to waive his right in his letter, cited by the Post-Gazette; he does not believe there was any fraud or error, and a recount is therefore unlikely to change the results. And,

‘More importantly, I am advised that the cost of the recount is estimated at approximately $1.3 million, which cost would be borne by Pennsylvania taxpayers,’ he wrote. ‘In these troubled economic times, it would be unacceptable for me to elevate my personal professional aspirations above legitimate considerations of prudent government fiscal management.’”

We’ll keep you posted on developments.

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