The Ada County Clerk’s office will begin a recount of the hotly contested race between Ada County Highway District Commissioner Rebecca Arnold and newcomer Alexis Pickering next Monday at 9 a.m.
Pickering came out ahead of the Nov. 3 election with a two vote lead over sixteen year incumbent Arnold with 15,735 votes over Arnold’s 15,733. Arnold requested the recount, but it will be paid for by the county because the margin was within the state’s threshold of less than .1% for a free recount.
On Monday, the clerk’s office will hand count 5% of the ballots to test the accuracy of the equipment, according to the Idaho Press. After the ballots are hand counted, they will be counted by the machines to compare the results.
The full recount is expected to take between four and five days due to the high volume of absentee and early votes. Ballots will be counted from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day until it is complete.
