Republican Bob McCaslin has requested a partial recount in his general election race for Spokane County Auditor against incumbent Democrat Vicky Dalton.
McCaslin is asking for a recount by hand for five precincts, according to a request document submitted to the county auditor’s office. Those precincts – 3246, 3247, 3248, 3249 and 3254 – are all on the western bluff of Latah Valley, and all were won by Dalton.
McCaslin’s request does not specify why he’s looking only at those five precincts. In total, the request said, there are about 2,400 ballots that would be subject to recount.
According to the election results certified by the Spokane County Canvassing Board this week, Dalton won the race by a very narrow margin – fewer than 1,200 votes out of more than 218,000 cast. It was the closest result of a countywide office in the November general election.
The county canvassing board will re-convene Monday to officially call for the recount, Dalton said in an e-mail. The following day, auditor’s office staff will retrieve the ballots McCaslin is asking for. The manual recount will take place Wednesday, December 7, and the results certified again the next day.
Because the window to file a recount application ended Thursday evening, McCaslin can’t decide to add more precincts to his request. McCaslin is also on the hook for paying for the recount. He filed a deposit with his paperwork Thursday.
