Provo residents will have to wait a little longer to know if Gary Winterton defeated Bonnie Morrow in the recent Municipal Council race.
County officials recounted the ballots cast for the Provo Municipal Council District 1 Tuesday morning, but the discrepancy between the recount total and the total from election night became so large that officials stopped the counting process. There will be a recount by hand at 10 a.m. today in the Utah County Commission conference room in the Utah County Administration Building, 100 E. Center St.
“They did a recount and the numbers came out so extremely in favor of the opposite candidate that there appears to be something wrong with the machine,” said Helen Anderson, spokeswoman for Provo city.
On election night unofficial results showed Winterton winning by only nine votes. The margin was small enough that Morrow could ask for a recount on the city’s dime. She did so, and in the second go-round the results appear to be coming out overwhelmingly in her favor.
Bryan Thompson, Utah County clerk, noted the hand count was not preferred, as state code prescribes that recounting of votes should be done in a similar process to the initial vote count. “Whatever is the most appropriate to make sure we get to the right outcome, we will do,” he said. “It will be a long tedious process.”
Source: Provo city council ballot recount suffers technical malfunction.