BILLINGS — Montana’s state schools superintendent race was headed for an eventual recount on Friday, as incumbent Democrat Denise Juneau held to a slim lead of roughly one-third of 1 percent with most votes tallied.
Republican Sandy Welch already is preparing to request a recount — possibly in each of the state’s 56 counties — once the vote is officially canvassed, her campaign said. That won’t happen until late November or early December.
The Secretary of State’s Office had Juneau up by roughly 1,500 votes on Friday out of more than 463,000 tallied.
Those figures could change as provisional ballots are counted in coming days. But the difference is expected to stay within the margin needed for Welch to request a recount: one-half of 1 percent.
A recount is automatic in Montana only in the event of a tie.
Juneau, who is seeking a second term, expects her lead to hold, her campaign spokeswoman said.
But Welch campaign manager Mitch Staley said the Republican challenger expects to pick up additional votes, particularly in Yellowstone and Flathead counties, both of which experienced difficulties counting ballots.
Those woes dragged on for a fourth day in Yellowstone County, where officials on Friday still had not finished tallying up results on some ballot questions from Tuesday’s election. Most results were in for the superintendent’s race and other statewide and local contests, county officials said.
“With how long it’s been taking, I can’t imagine everything has gone down exactly right,” Staley said. “We think there’s some ground to gain and this is too close to say everything is fine the way it is.”
In Yellowstone County, an unexpectedly large surge in late voter registrations and repeated problems with absentee ballot scanners kept election officials working for three days straight before they finally took a break at midnight Thursday, said Elections Supervisor Brett Rutherford.
Rutherford said the county’s election machines had experienced problems in prior elections processing absentee ballots because each comes in with a crease from being folded into an envelope.
But whereas in the past the machines would jam up every 20 or 25 ballots, this election it’s been happening with almost every other ballot, Rutherford said.
The machines were bought from Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems and Software. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.