NH Democratic Primary recount has officially begun

CONCORD — Teams of counters have started re-counting the Democratic ballots cast in last week's New Hampshire presidential primary.

They are looking first at ballots from Manchester.

Secretary of State William Gardner says his office has received $27,000 from Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich to pay for the start of the re-count. Gardner said observers from campaigns and fair elections groups have the right to see and approve every ballot.

Kucinich received less than 2 percent of the vote. He said he is suspicious of the results, although he doesn't expect a re-count to change his vote count much.

Kucinich can stop the re-count at any time and get a refund for the balance of the costs. To re-count the entire state would cost him about $70,000.

The Secretary of State's office received at $56,000 check on Wednesday from Republican Albert Howard of Michigan, who has asked for a re-count of the GOP primary. Gardner was not available to say when the Republican re-count would begin.

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