Butt requests recount for council seat

Andrew Butt, who lost yesterday's name pull tie-breaker, has requested a recount.

County Supervisor John Gioia announced the recount on Twitter, stating, "Losing Candidates Request Recount in Richmond and Antioch Council Elections. The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has been notified that Andrew Butt in Richmond and Joy Motts in Antioch have requested recounts in their council races."

According to a press release from Contra Costa Elections issued this afternoon, "The County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department has received two recount requests for races in the November 8, 2022, General Election. One request is for the Antioch District 1 City Council race in which Tamisha Torres-Walker won over Joy Motts by three votes, and the second is for the Richmond District 2 City Council race, which ended in a tie between Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda."

“As per state law, the requestor of the recount must pay the cost for the recount. The cost is determined based on the steps involved in the recount, including the sorting out of the physical paper ballots. Our office is preparing estimated costs for the requestors based on the type of recount that has been requested.” Once the costs are provided to the requestor, the recount will begin after payment for the first day’s processing is received.

The recount must begin within 7 days of the official request. California law states that costs paid by the requestor are to be refunded if the recount changes the outcome of the election in favor of the requestor. The requestor is responsible for all costs of the recount. If the outcome does not change, the requestor may receive a refund if the amount paid is greater than the actual cost of the recount. If the recount is conducted with the original paper ballots, the recount is expected to take 6-7 days. Conducting parallel recounts for two districts may save some shared costs but will take longer than the process for a single jurisdiction.

In California, any voter may request a recount. For single-county races, a request for a recount must be made within five days of the county canvass/certification. No reason is required.

Following the Nov 8 election, Butt and Zepeda were tied with 1921 votes each. An internal audit initiated by Contra Costa Elections verified the result, and the race was certified on Dec 2. “Our office conducted expanded manual tally audits for these two close races, which were attended by the affected candidates and media representatives. These audits were done above and beyond the state requirements and at the County Elections Division’s cost. Our staff has done an excellent job and I am confident in their work. These requests are within the rules for recounts.” said Debi Cooper, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar.