Update: This Boise City Council candidate lost by 15 votes. Now he’s doing this
Update Tuesday, Nov. 14: Josh Johnston requested a recount in Boise City Council District 3 on Tuesday, according to Daniel Estes, spokesperson for the Idaho attorney general. Johnston paid the attorney general’s office $1,600 to conduct a recount in the 16 precincts within the district. The recount is scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16 and 17, according to Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple.
A Boise City Council candidate who lost his race on Election Day will request a recount of votes after losing by a slim margin: 15 votes.
Josh Johnston, candidate in District 3, which covers the Boise Bench and Southwest Boise, announced he would seek a recount in a Thursday news release. Johnston received 2,551 votes, according to unofficial results from the Ada County clerk’s office, while his top opponent, Kathy Corless, received 2,566. Two other candidates, Theresa Vawter and Chris Blanchard, got 1,630 and 1,059, respectively.
“While the campaign has no specific concerns about Tuesday’s process, they decided to exercise this opportunity provided by Idaho election law given the narrow 15-vote margin in unofficial results,” Johnston’s release said, adding that he pledges to “acknowledge the result at the end of the processes provided under Idaho law.”
“A supermajority of voters chose someone other than the mayor’s preferred candidate in District 3,” the release said. “The recount will ensure every vote is counted correctly in this narrowly decided race.”
Boise’s own laws require the top two mayoral candidates to face each other in a runoff election if neither achieves a majority of the general election vote. But in City Council races, winners need only garner a plurality.
Johnston added that he thinks the interests of many voters in District 3 have not been adequately considered by elected officials in the past, and that “our voters deserve every effort to ensure their voices are heard.”
Under Idaho law, candidates for local office can request recounts by appealing to the Idaho attorney general. In local elections, the county will pay for recounts if the margin between the winner and loser is less than or equal to 0.1%. The 15-vote margin between Johnston and Corless is 0.19% of the votes cast, meaning that Johnston would have to pay for the recount.
Idaho law states that Johnston would have to pay $100 for each precinct he wants recounted. There were 15 precincts in District 3 that recorded votes, according to the election results. State law also lists travel costs for the attorney general’s office and pay for any election judges not employed by the county as part of the overall cost.
In his news release, Johnston said he plans to request the recount on Nov. 14, after the “Ada County canvass scheduled for that day.”
In municipal elections, local commissioners — in this case, the Ada County Commission — officially certify, or canvass, the results. The commission is scheduled to certify the results on Nov. 14.
After a recount is requested, the attorney general is required to order that ballot boxes in each requested precinct be impounded by the county sheriff, according to state law. If the recount results in a different election outcome, the “county or state” must reimburse the candidate for the costs.
A spokesperson for the Ada County clerk’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did the attorney general’s office.
Corless told the Idaho Statesman by text that she has “the utmost faith” in the election process and Ada County officials, and thinks a recount will confirm the Election Day outcome.
“I look forward to getting to work for the people of Boise,” she said.
