Three defeated Kentucky House candidates request recanvass of vote totals

Three Kentucky House candidates are questioning the election results in their respective races.

Rep. Denny Butler, R-Louisville; Rep. Linda Belcher, D-Shepherdsville; and Republican candidate Chad Shannon in Middlesboro submitted written requests for a recanvass, seeking verification of the vote totals in their respective races.

Butler, who switched parties shortly after Gov. Matt Bevin was elected, lost to Democratic newcomer McKenzie Cantrell by 259 votes based on the unofficial count.

Belcher lost to Dan Johnson, a Shepherdsville pastor who was denounced by the Republican Party of Kentucky for posting offensive pictures of President Barack Obama on Facebook, by 156 votes.

Shannon lost to incumbent Rep. Rick Nelson, D-Middlesboro, by 420 votes.

The recanvass will take place in each district on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.

No recanvass has changed the outcome of a Kentucky election for at least 30 years, said Bradford Queen, a spokesman for Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.

A recanvass involves verifying the accuracy of vote totals reported by each voting machine. It differs from a recount, in which individual votes are recounted.

This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Three defeated Kentucky House candidates request recanvass of vote totals."