BOISE, Idaho — Editor's Note: This article was originally published by The Idaho Press. Read their article here.
Alexis Pickering officially defeated incumbent Rebecca Arnold in the Ada County Highway District Zone 2 race by four votes after a recount was concluded Friday.
The final count was certified by Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Jan Bennetts on Friday night. Pickering picked up an additional 10 votes while Arnold picked up another eight after the recount. Pickering had 15,745 votes while Arnold received 15,741.
“I just want to say I was part of the process, I had an amazing team overseeing the process, blown away by how transparent [Ada County Clerk] Phil McGrane, staff and Jan was, so much work this week, they made sure every vote counted,” Pickering said on Friday.
Arnold requested a recount, citing the tiny margin, to which the Ada County Elections Office agreed. Recounts are conducted at no charge to either candidate if two opponents are within 0.1% margin, as is the case in this race.
“I’m over the moon and I’m just really grateful that we could hold steady on the promise we could deliver free and fair elections,” Pickering added.
The recount process began on Monday, Nov. 30.
Elections staff ensured that tabulation equipment was working correctly by completing a hand count of at least 1,575 ballots, or 5% of the 31,468 cast, then running that same group through the machines to make sure it gets the same result.
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