A hand recount Friday afternoon of the Secretary of State runoff election in Baxter County found no changes from the vote totals reported on election night Tuesday.
Baxter County was one of a select number of counties statewide requested by candidate Bryan Norris for a recount. Under Arkansas law, a candidate may request a recount within two days of an election. The request was filed Thursday, and the Baxter County Election Commission scheduled the recount at its headquarters in Mountain Home for Friday afternoon starting at 1.
Following the recount, the commission certified the results. In the final tally, Bryan Norris carried Baxter County with 2,627 votes, while Sen. Kim Hammer received 2,586. There were 403 undervotes. The margin between the candidates was 41 votes. A total of 5,616 ballots were cast in the race, representing 18.5 percent of the county’s electorate.
After the three hour recount, Baxter County Clerk Canda Reese spoke following the reading of results by Election Commissioner Gary Smith, expressing thanks and pride for those involved throughout the election season.
“I don’t think in any county in the state of Arkansas people work as hard as they do in Baxter County to ensure the integrity of their elections,” Reese said.
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