Election recount - wikipedia Election recount This article is about election recount. For the 2008 film, see Recount ( film ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2016 ) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. ( November 2016 ) An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place in the event that the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election recounts will often result in changes in contest tallies. Errors can be found or introduced from human factors, such as transcription errors, or machine errors, such as misreads of paper ballots. Alternately tallies may change because of a reinterpretation of voter intent. Contents 1 Recount methods 1.1 Machine recount 1.2 Manual recount 2 Legal requirements 3 Not recounts 4 Notable recounts 5 See also 6 References Recount methods Recounting optical - scan ballots by hand in the United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008. Machine recount A machine recount is a retabulation of ballots cast during the election. This can be done using an optical scan voting system, punched card system or DRE voting machine. With document - based Ballot Voting Systems, ballots are counted a second time by some form of machine. With Non-document - based Ballot Voting Systems officials will recollect vote data from each voting machine which will be combined by a central tabulation system. Manual recount A manual or `` hand '' recount involves each individual physical representation of voter intent be reviewed for voter intent by one or more individuals. With DRE voting machines, a voter - verified paper audit trail ( VVPAT ) is examined from each voter. For some DREs that do not generate a VVPAT, images can be printed for each ballot cast and counted individually. Legal requirements Recounts can be mandatory or optional. In some jurisdictions, recounts are mandatory in the event the difference between the top two candidates is less than a percentage of votes cast or of a fixed number. Mandatory recounts are paid for by the elections official, or the state. Mandatory recounts can usually be waived by the apparent losing candidate. The winning side will usually encourage the loser to waive the recount in a show of unity and to avoid spending taxpayer money. Each jurisdiction has different criteria for optional recounts. Some areas permit recounts for any office or measure, while others require that the margin of victory be less than a certain percentage before a recount is allowed. In all instances, optional recounts are paid for by the candidate, their political party, or, in some instances, by any interested voter. The person paying for the recount has the option to stop the recount at any time. If the recount reverses the election, the jurisdiction will then pay for the recount. In the United Kingdom it is possible for a defeated candidate denied a recount by the Returning Officer, to request one from the court by means of an election petition. There are several cases where a Parliamentary election has been the subject of a court - ordered recount. Not recounts Loosely called `` recounts '' are actually first counts of various kinds like absentee ballots and provisional ballots. Because they occur after regular ballots are counted and because most elections are not close enough for these other ballots to affect the outcome, when these additional ballots are being tabulated, many media sources incorrectly call them `` recounts. '' Notable recounts Florida election recount - 2000 U.S. presidential election Washington gubernatorial election, 2004 Vermont Auditor of Accounts election, 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2006 # District 13 - Florida 's 13th congressional district United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008 Virginia Attorney General election, 2013 2016 United States presidential election recounts See also Risk - limiting audit Electoral fraud References Jump up ^ `` Automatic Recounts ''. National Conference of State Legislatures. October 26, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016. Jump up ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/herring-wins-virginia-attorney-general-race-elections-board-announces/2013/11/25/7b661082-55e7-11e3-835d-e7173847c7cc_story.html Jump up ^ See http://www.gregpalast.com/ for an investigative journalist 's report of what the `` recount '' uncovered. Jump up ^ `` Clinton campaign counsel : We 'll participate in recount ''. www.msn.com. Retrieved 26 November 2016. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_recount&oldid=776960736 '' Categories : Elections Vote counting Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2016 All articles needing additional references Articles with limited geographic scope from November 2016 USA - centric Wikipedia articles needing clarification from February 2009 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Edit links This page was last edited on 24 April 2017, at 11 : 55. About Wikipedia

Question: when can a post election recount be requested
Answer: initial vote tally during an election is extremely close