Whitman County Auditor will hand recount ballots in commissioner of public lands race

The Whitman County Auditor will perform a hand recount of the commissioner of public lands contest.

The auditor announced in a news release Thursday the recount is under direction of the Washington Secretary of State.

When ballot counting wrapped up earlier this week, Dave Upthegrove led Sue Kuehl Pederson by just 51 votes — of 1.9 million cast — for second place in the state lands commissioner primary. They both trailed Jaime Herrera Buetler. The top two finishers will advance to November’s general election.

Washington election rules stipulate that a hand recount is required if the difference is less than 1,000 votes and the margin between candidates is under 0.25%.

Elections staff will begin sifting through primary election ballots Monday, which the news release says will continue until certification by the Whitman County Canvassing Board on Sept. 3.

The news release says both the manual recount process and certification meeting held in the Whitman County Elections Office in Colfax are open to the public.

All counties will certify recount results by Sept. 3, and the Secretary of State will approve the statewide results on Sept. 4, according to the news release.