Ms. Priest said that the secretaries of state began holding conference calls with each other as the election recount unfolded in Florida in November.

His last heart attack occurred on Nov. 22 during the disputed presidential election recount in Florida.

An election recount is essentially a repeat tabulation of votes that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count.

If Florida's election recount in 2000 was a mess, a recount this year in closely contested Pennsylvania - should it come to that - could create even more chaos.

She was unseated by Republican Rich Murray in her 2010 re-election bid, losing by a mere 57 votes after an election recount.

Also, it is difficult to get a court-ordered injunction against an otherwise legal action, like an election recount or razing a building when the owner agrees.

But not an election recount.

During the 2000 presidential election recount, she was the president of the State Association of County Elections Supervisors propelling her into the role of spokesperson.

The board had considered Republican charges of voter fraud in Cook County and denied a request for a further election recount.

Stewart himself describes the show's coverage of the 2000 election recount as the point at which the show found its editorial voice.