Switzerland County Circuit Court Clerk Ginger Peters reports that as of the close of her office on Tuesday, there had not yet been an official request for a recount in the closely-contested race for County Auditor.
On election day, Republican Gayle Rayles defeated incumbent Democrat Rachel Schuler by just seven votes: 1,530-1,523.
On election night, Ginger Peters said that there were “five or six” provisional ballots that had not yet been counted. Provisional ballots are ballots that were cast on election day be people who had some type of problem at a particular polling location – such as not being on the voting roster in a particular precinct.
When those situations happen, officials at the polls allow the person to cast a provisional ballot; and then, once the election is over, that person may plead their case to the election board. If the board finds that the ballots should have been allowed, then it is counted.
Those voters who saw their ballots labeled “provisional” have until tomorrow (Friday) to come to the clerk’s office and give their reasons for their vote being counted.
Once tomorrow’s deadline passes, the next big date is Tuesday, November 16th, which the last day that a candidate or the political party that candidate belongs to can file a motion for an official recount.
If that happens by the deadline, then a panel will be assembled representing both parties, and that panel will begin the process of going through each ballot that was cast in order to certify the official vote count of that race.
If a recount is requested, the candidate or political party that makes the request is responsible for covering the costs created by the recount process.