San Juan County ballot recount will take place Monday, clerk says

A recount of ballots in three San Juan County races that was ordered Nov. 28 by the New Mexico State Canvass Board will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 4 and is expected to take two days, according to County Clerk Tanya Shelby.

The three San Juan County races are among 44 races across New Mexico in which the results were close enough for the board to order an automatic recount. The San Juan County races that will be recounted are the District 5 seat on the San Juan College Board of Trustees, the District 2 seat on the Central Consolidated School District Board of Education and the mill levy question for the Aztec Municipal School District.

All three local races were decided by just a handful of votes. In the San Juan College board race, Beverly Taylor edged Judy Hale 866-859, while third-place finisher Catherine Thomas-Kemp secured 255 votes. Taylor won 43.7% of the vote, while Hale drew 43.4%.

In the CCSD school board seat race, a margin of only two votes separated incumbent Gary Montoya (357 or 50.1%) from challenger Hoskie Benally Jr. (355, 49.9%).

The Aztec school mill levy question was separated by four votes, with 701 votes (50.1%) cast against the measure 697 votes (49.9%) in favor of it.

Shelby said seven precincts in the county also were chosen for a statewide voting system check and audit. That audit will start at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7.

She said that process is conducted after every statewide election. The Secretary of State’s Office hires an independent auditor to conduct a random drawing of precincts that will be subject to the audit. This year, 109 precincts were drawn throughout the state, seven of which were in San Juan County, Shelby said.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: County Clerk Tanya Shelby expects ballot recount to take two days