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Representatives mull vote recount in New Hampshire

New Hampshire officials said on Friday they would conduct a hand recount of the state's Democratic and Republican presidential primaries at the request of two minor candidates.

Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who received less than 1.4 percent of the vote, and Republican Albert Howard of Michigan, who received about 44 votes statewide, were expected to pay a US$2,000 fee to start the process, state officials said.

"Mr Howard has satisfied the requirements for initiating a statewide recount of the Republican primary," Secretary of State William Gardner said in a statement. Officials said they expected a check from Kucinich to arrive late on Friday, satisfying his requirements for the request.

Kucinich sent a letter to Gardner on Thursday requesting the recount, citing "serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors" about the integrity of the primary results.

Primary voting is a crucial step in the nominating process to select who will represent parties in the US presidential election in November.

The top vote-getters in Tuesday's primary were Democratic Representative Hillary Clinton of New York, with 39 percent, and Republican Representative John McCain, of Arizona, with 37 percent.

Gardner was preparing an estimate of the cost of the recount, which the requesting candidates must pay before it will begin.

He said he expects to start the recount Wednesday, and will announce further details once the payments have been received.

Under state law, if a candidate finished more than 3 percentage points behind the winner, the candidate must pay the cost of a recount. The cost is then refunded if the recount finds the requester won or finished within 1 percentage point of the winner.

The last time New Hampshire did a statewide recount of the results of the presidential primary was in 1980.
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