Clarke among counties to recount Democratic District 10 race to determine runoff candidates

Stephanie Allen, Athens Banner-Herald
·2 min read

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new information

Athens-Clarke elections officials are recounting the results of the Democratic District 10 race at the direction of the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.

All of the counties in the 10th Congressional District are recounting their election results, including Clarke. The results in question are from the May 24 primary.

District 10 counties have been given a deadline of Friday at 5 p.m. to finish counting, according to the secretary of state's office.

This race is set to go to a runoff after no candidate secured more than 50% of votes cast. Originally, the runoff candidates were to be Tabitha Johnson-Green and Athens local Jessica Fore because they secured the most votes.

Phyllis Hatcher came in third behind Fore, so was not eligible for the runoff. But the total difference in votes between Hatcher and Fore was 137, according to the secretary of state's website.

Read More: Early voting dates and ballot information for June 21 runoff elections in Athens-Clarke

Also: Ahead of primary election, Athens’ elections office discovered errors on 86 ballots

And: What's an election runoff? Why are runoffs necessary? Here's what you need to know

In Clarke, Johnson-Green secured the most votes and Fore the second, beating out Hatcher by an even larger margin than the district as a whole. In Clarke, Fore received a total of 2,585 votes and Hatcher 1,553.

Scanners will be used to conduct the recount in Clarke and testing began midday Wednesday, with the recount slated for 4 p.m. that day.

The local board of elections was originally slated to meet Wednesday night to certify results if necessary However, that did not occur as the recount was not finished.

As of midday on Thursday, the election’s office had not completed its recount.

The board of elections has scheduled a new meeting for Friday at noon to certify the results if necessary.

Meanwhile, the election’s office will spend Thursday continuing its tabulation and its goal is to complete the recount Thursday, according to Charlotte Sosebee, Athens-Clarke director of elections and voter registration.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Clarke County, Georgia to recount ballots in Democratic US House race