How North Dakota Handles Election Recounts With Precision

It sounds dramatic, but in North Dakota, it is handled in a step-by-step process, if not a little (a lot) more dull than you'd expect.

Before anyone even says the word “recount,” there is an important first step. The canvassing board meets to review and certify the election results, which is where the numbers become official. Ballots are accounted for, totals are checked, and the results are locked in as the starting point. Only after that process is finished can a recount come into play.

From there, if the race is close enough, a recount is triggered. In a primary election, that happens automatically if a candidate falls short by 1 percent or less of the top vote-getter. If the margin is a little wider, more than 1 percent but less than 2 percent, a candidate can ask for a recount.

Once a recount process starts, things move quickly. Election officials set a date within a matter of days, notify the candidates, and assemble a recount board. Workers are brought in, usually people familiar with elections, and the process begins.

Ballots are pulled back out and checked against poll books and tabulation reports. Then they are reviewed one by one. Workers look for clear votes, missed markings, write-ins, and anything that might not have been read correctly the first time. Some ballots get set aside if there is a question about voter intent, and those go to the recount board to decide.

Candidates or their representatives can be in the room watching, where can raise objections, challenge ballots, and make sure everything is handled fairly.

When the counting is done, the recount board reviews any disputed ballots and signs off on the final numbers. If that changes the outcome, then the race has its winner.

If it does not, and the result is still tied, that is when the process takes an unexpected turn. State law allows the tie to be broken by chance. It could be a coin flip, drawing a name, or another simple method done in public.

No second election. No drawn-out process. Just a clear, final decision.

It may feel a little old-fashioned, but it works. Even when the vote ends in a perfect tie, the system has a way to move forward.

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That process? Drawing a name out of a hat.