Orcas Recount Results Match Original Count

By San Juan County

A recount of votes cast for governor in San Juan County’s Orcas East precinct matched exactly the original vote count in the race.

The recount, which had been requested by a representative of a political party, was conducted Thursday by two teams of election workers. 

The teams included Republican and Democratic members, with each team comprised of one Republican and one Democrat.

The entire process took about seven hours.

The first four hours were spent pulling the 928 Orcas East ballots from all batches of ballots processed for the November general election. The next three hours were spent manually reviewing and tabulating the ballots. The final count was done separately by each member of each team, in order to ensure a correct tally.

“I was pleased, but not surprised, by the results of the recount,” said San Juan County Auditor Milene Henley. “San Juan County, and indeed all of Washington State, has an excellent system and a long track record with tallying vote-by-mail ballots. Still, it’s good to validate our accuracy every now and then with a recount.”

In the original tally, Governor Inslee had received 711 votes in the Orcas East precinct to opponent Loren Culp’s 199.  In addition, there were 13 undervotes (no vote cast) and 5 write-ins.  

In the recount, the results were unchanged.

The San Juan County Canvassing Board certified the results of the recount in a meeting Friday afternoon.  The person who requested the recount is responsible for reimbursing the county for the cost of the recount.

For more information about the election or the recount, contact the elections office at 360-378-3357 or [email protected].

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