Recount possible as five votes separate Republican candidates after Utah primary election

David DeMille, St. George Spectrum & Daily News
·3 min read
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A voter drops ballots into the official ballot box outside the St. George branch of the Washington County library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.
A voter drops ballots into the official ballot box outside the St. George branch of the Washington County library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.

A recount appears likely in the race for one of southern Utah's Republican primaries for a spot in the state Legislature, with just five votes separating candidates Joseph Elison and Willie Billings in House District 72.

The updated vote totals as of Friday morning showed Elison ahead 4,112 to 4,107, according to the Washington County Clerk's office, with election clerks still working to "cure" as many ballots as possible by contacting voters whose ballots had not been counted because of errors, such as missing signatures.

Joe Elison, a candidate running for Utah House District 72, speaks as his opponent, Willie Billings, looks on during a debate hosted by the Washington County Republican Party ahead of the primary election. The debates were held at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
Joe Elison, a candidate running for Utah House District 72, speaks as his opponent, Willie Billings, looks on during a debate hosted by the Washington County Republican Party ahead of the primary election. The debates were held at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

State law allows for a recount if the race is within .25% once all the counting is done, although the losing candidate would need to request it. Billings indicated earlier in the week in a text to The Spectrum that he would request a recount in those circumstances.

The race between the two Hurricane-area businessmen has been razor-thin since the initial vote totals were reported on the night of June 28, which was the official date of the primary, with both candidates having led the race at various points as election officials continued to update the totals.

If the race does qualify for a recount, the county clerk's office would need to supervise a recount of every ballot cast and make sure uncounted ballots weren't included for the proper reasons.

Willie Billings, a candidate running for Utah House District 72, speaks during a debate hosted by the Washington County Republican Party at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
Willie Billings, a candidate running for Utah House District 72, speaks during a debate hosted by the Washington County Republican Party at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

Both candidates were asking on social media for their supporters to check whether their ballots had been counted by checking at the state-administered website ballottrax.Utah.gov.

"There are votes for me out there where people have received communications from the county clerks office that their Ballot has some issue," Billings posted on Facebook earlier this week. "Please get this information out to absolutely everybody through messenger or text or even Facebook. We need every vote to count."

More: 2022 Primary Q&A: GOP Candidates in House District 72, Joseph Elison and Willie Billings

As all ballots must be officially canvassed by July 12, county clerks are working to cure as many ballots as possible by the end of the day on July 11.

Updated results from other races

The other races featured on the primary ballot weren't nearly as close, and updated numbers posted by election officials on Thursday showed little or no change to the results in other races.

While only Republicans held primary elections in southwestern Utah this year, most GOP voters had a lengthy slate of races to consider, with incumbents like U.S. Sen. Mike Lee and U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart both facing challenges from within the party and with new district boundaries in place across the region.

U.S. Senate

Mike Lee (incumbent): 25,396 (78.29%)

Becky Edwards: 4,869 (15.01%)

Ally Isom: 2,175 (6.7%)

U.S. House

Chris Stewart (incumbent): 26,021 (81.44%)

Erin Rider: 5,932 (18.56%)

Utah Senate District 28

Evan Vickers (incumbent): 4341 (60.85%)

Patrick Larson: 2,793 (39.15%)

Utah House District 72

Joseph Elison: 4,112 (50.03%)

Willie Billings: 4,107 (49.97%)

Utah House District 73

Colin Jack: 4,241 (63.3%)

Nina Barnes: 2,459 (36.7%)

Utah House District 74

Neil Walter: 5,934 (63.34%)

Kristy Pike: 3,435 (36.66%)

Washington County Commission

Gil Almquist: 19,239 (61.2%)

Allen Davis: 12,195 (38.8%)

Washington County School Board District 5

David Stirland: 2,963 (51.01%)

Edyth Lang: 1,499 (25.8%)

Willard "Jake" Peart: 1,347 (23.19%)

Washington County School Board District 6

Burke Staheli: 3,594 (62.68%)

Kelly Blake: 1,262 (22.01%)

Susan Gilman-Hasenwinkel: 878 (15.31%)

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Elison leads Billings by just 5 votes in GOP race for Utah Legislature