Recount ordered in Commissioner of Public Lands race
OLYMPIA — The Office of the Secretary of State certified the results of the August 6 Primary on Thursday and ordered a mandatory recount for the Commissioner of Public Lands race. The recount is expected to take about seven business days to complete.
In the race, Democrat Dave Upthegrove secured second place with 396,300 votes, just 51 votes ahead of Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson, who received 396,249 votes. The narrow margin of 0.0064% triggered the recount. The candidate who finishes in second place after the recount will advance to the November 5 General Election to face Republican Jamie Herrera Beutler, the top vote-getter in the primary.
This race is the closest in Washington’s primary history, surpassing the 1960 superintendent of public instruction primary, where the candidates were separated by 252 votes.
"We are confident our election officials and workers administered an accurate and reliable election for all Washingtonians," said Assistant Secretary of State Kevin McMahan. "The mandatory recount underscores the importance of every vote and reaffirms our commitment to accurate election results."
Each of the state’s 39 county canvassing boards will set their own recount schedule, which will include reviewing all ballots for overvotes, undervotes, and write-ins. Once the recount is completed, the Office of the Secretary of State will certify the results. The state will cover all costs associated with the recount, as required by law.
Washington state mandates a manual recount in statewide races if the margin is less than 0.25% of the total votes cast for both candidates and fewer than 1,000 votes separate them.
Over 1.9 million Washingtonians voted in the primary, marking a 40.9% turnout of the state’s 4.8 million registered voters. In comparison, the August primary in 2020 saw a 54.4% turnout, while the 2022 primary had a 40.4% turnout.
Ballots for the November 5 General Election will be mailed to eligible voters by October 18. The deadline for online and mail-in voter registration is October 28. In-person registration will be open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Clare is an Eastern Washington University graduate and a reporter at Free Press Publishing.
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