TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas election officials are conducting a close-race audit this week following the recent general election for multiple races that have yet to be called.
Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell told 27 News that his office is conducting a close-race audit on Monday, Nov. 9 after the general election last week. This comes as election workers in the county are conducting a post-election audit.
Beyond Shawnee County, election workers across Kansas are also conducting close-race and post-election audits. But what is the difference between a post-election audit and a close-race audit? And will a recount be coming in the near future?
Progress on close-race audits
Over 40 counties have completed close-race audits as of Nov. 9. A close-race audit involves counting ballots by hand to certify the election results, a process which is open to viewing by the general public. The hand count is later compared with the results gathered by voting tabulators to verify that the vote totals match.
Kansas Secretary of State (SOS) Scott Schwab said close-race audits would be held for six contested races in Kansas: the race for governor, secretary of state, attorney general and three house districts. While the Associated Press called the attorney general race in favor of Chris Mann (D), the other races have yet to be called.
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A close-race audit is triggered when a race has a 1% or less difference between candidates on the night of the election, according to the office of the SOS. County election officers will conduct the close-race audit in an additional 10% of all county precincts in a specified race, at a minimum of one precinct in the county.
The vote split between Senator Ty Masterson (R) and Senator Cindy Hoslcher (D) is just over 7,600 votes in Holscher’s favor, according to the office of the SOS. Other races, such as those in the Kansas House of Representatives, are much closer, with candidates separated by less than a hundred votes.
- Race for governor
- Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) – 551,243
- Sen. Ty Masterson (R) – 543,599
- Race for secretary of state
- Pat Proctor (R) – 524,555
- Jennifer Day (D) – 515,738
- Scott E. Morgan (UK) – 46,036
- Race for attorney general
- Chris Mann (D) – 552,753
- Kris Kobach (R) – 539.297
- Race for House District 27
- Sara Kiewiet (D) – 6,881
- Sean E. Tarwater (R) – 6,828
- Race for House District 40
- Mika Stilwell (D) – 3,743
- David Buehler (R) – 3,814
- Race for House District 117
- Brandon Holland (D) – 6,611
- Adam Turk (R) – 6,469
Post-election audit
Post-election audits are routine procedures that occur following an election in Kansas, according to the office of the SOS. These must be completed before the county canvass, which must occur by Nov. 16.
Schwab randomly selected one federal, one legislative, one county and the constitutional amendment races to be audited in each county on Nov. 4. Election workers in each county will randomly select 1% of the precincts to be audited for each race, counting them by hand to ensure the count matches what the tabulators reported.
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What is a recount?
Election officials report that recounts, unlike post-race and close-race audits, must be requested by a candidate. The candidate requesting a recount must do so in writing and file it with the office of the SOS no later than 5 p.m. on the day after the last meeting of the county board of canvassers votes in the election.
Candidates requesting a recount must specify which counties or precincts are to be recounted. The method of conducting the recount is the choice of the individual requesting it.
Looking ahead
The county board of canvassers will meet soon in each county across Kansas to present the final tallies to the board of certification so they can be verified. In Shawnee County, for example, this will occur on Monday, Nov. 16.
The State Board of Canvassers will certify the results of the general election on Dec. 1. You can view election results on our website by clicking here. To learn more about post-election audits, close-race audits and recounts in Kansas, click here.
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