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Training

Conducting a Recount

Helping America Vote

About the Quick Start Guides: The EAC's Quick Start Guides are intended to familiarize local election officials with various topics

they will likely encounter in election administration. The guides are a starting point to identify areas of concern and give officials a

broad idea of factors they should consider in approaching a given topic.

What are recounts, and why are they necessary?

Especially in local contests, it is common for a handful of votes to determine the outcome of the election. The recount procedures are

statutorily driven and may be overseen by electoral boards, canvass boards, or judicial bodies, depending on state policy. A recount is

an additional count of the votes cast to ensure that ballots cast were counted accurately initially and that the correct candidates or

ballot issues won. Depending on local laws and procedures, election officials may conduct this process using ballot tabulation

equipment or by hand. The policies and procedures for conducting recounts and election contests are tied closely to the specific ballot

media and design. As states can use hand-marked paper ballots, ballot marking devices, or DRE voting machines created by different

companies, it is challenging to determine a consistent best practice standard for all recounts and election contests across the country.

What you need to know

Timelines

State law or regulation often

dictates when the recount must

begin and end.

Be aware of statutory deadlines

for when candidates take office

so that recounts are finalized

prior to those dates.

Supplies & Templates

Depending on the number of ballots to

be re-tabulated, additional supplies

may be needed, including:

Security seals

Chain of custody logs

Tally sheets

Prepare press release templates and

legal notices in advance and fill in

details later.

Training

All training materials should be made

available to the public in advance. The

training sessions should be

comprehensive regarding the policies

and procedures for conducting the

recount, the chain of custody, and

should provide information about the

rules for observers, media, and

candidates.

Staff

The total number of staff and additional

personnel needed to conduct a recount

depends on:

The number of ballots

The type of voting system

The method of recount

The budget

Consider recruiting stand-by staff in the

event of cancellations during the recount

process.

Location

Many jurisdictions can conduct a recount

within the elections office. However,

another location may need to be secured

to allow for additional transparency.

Consider filming and/or livestreaming the

proceedings.

The recount room, all election materials,

and the chain of custody should be

secured throughout the process, and

there should be enough room to allow

the observation of the process. Consider

hiring security staff, if needed.

Cost

Typically, when not required by law or

with results within a statutorily defined

margin, the cost of a recount is billed to

the requestor of the recount. Consider all

budget impacts, including:

Full-time & temporary staff salaries

Location rental

Legal expenses

Vendor support

Security

Additional supplies

Billing and collection policies should be

understood in advance.

Transparency

Before each election, election officials should make the public aware of the timeline, methodology, scope, and effect on final

outcomes of election results in the event discrepancies are revealed between original election results and the recounted election

results. Recount materials should include the ‘who, what, and when’ of the recount process. A “Frequently Asked Questions” page

can ask and answer:

Are recounts mandatory?

Who can call for a recount?

Will the recount establish a winner?

How long will the recount last?

How much does a recount cost?

Who pays for the recount?

Who can handle election materials?

Can the public view the recount?

Can the results be challenged?

May 1, 2022 v. 1.0 1 EAC | Helping America Vote

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Conducting a Recount

Initiating the Recount

Automatically initiated based on a vote margin

Candidate initiated

Voter initiated

Court-ordered

Each state has its own laws regarding what may trigger a recount, and they usually fall within the following

general categories:

Conducting the Recount

Conduct a kick-off briefing for all participants in the recount, and describe the process, workflow, state laws

and regulations, and overall procedures for managing the recount.

Review state-mandated deadlines and determine staffing needs based on these deadlines.

Reinforce the “team of two” concept throughout the process, preferably bipartisan. Assign team leaders to

each component of the recount workflow.

Provide an overview of the policies and procedures for media and observers of the recount.

Distribute copies of your security plan to everyone involved in the process.

Implement a process for managing the flow of information to the recount board, the media, candidates, and

political parties.

Conduct periodic media briefings to answer all questions during a designated time.

Finalizing the Recount

Collect and organize all recount documentation—tally sheets, batch sheets, and ballots. The results of the

recount can be challenged in court; therefore, election officials should store detailed documentation of each

decision made and action taken during the recount process in a secured area.

Prepare a cost analysis for the recount. This report should be provided to the budget department staff or

billed to the appropriate party.

Conduct a full staff debriefing; review lessons learned and gather input for changes to recount procedures.

Update recount procedures based on feedback.

Examples

HAND RECOUNT: During the recount, three or four-person teams receive ballots. For each ballot, one team member reads aloud the

name of the candidate receiving the vote. Another team member records the vote on a tally sheet. The third and fourth members

verify both of the other team members' work. When an entire bundle of ballots is recounted, the totals from the tally sheet are

recorded on a batch sheet and attached to the bundle of voted ballots. To ensure accuracy, team members may switch roles and

count each bundle of ballots twice before attaching the batch sheet to the ballots.

ELECTRONIC RECOUNT: Before starting the recount, conduct a logic and accuracy test to ensure the tabulation equipment is

functioning properly. Working in teams of two, rescan optical scan ballots or reload memory cards and balance the returns in the

same manner as the official results. For example, for ballots cast at polling places, recount the ballots and balance to the end-of-day

report from the corresponding precinct scanner or DRE. Central count ballots should be recounted in the original batches with the

recounted results compared to the given batch's returns. After each central count batch or polling locations' ballots are tabulated and

balanced, aggregate the results until all ballots are recounted.

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