Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s chief election official, today announced that a statewide recanvass of the votes was conducted in the May 17 Democratic Presidential primary election and the results did not change the outcome of the election. The results remain unchanged from the totals certified by county boards of elections to the Secretary of State last week, as required by law.
Pursuant to a request from Bernie Sanders, a Democratic candidate for President, each of Kentucky’s 120 county boards of elections convened at 9 a.m. today to recheck and recanvass each voting machine. The results were certified to the Secretary of State’s office.
"I’m grateful to our county boards of elections for their work today. Their efforts help ensure confidence in the Primary Election results for both candidates and the electorate," said Grimes. "The recanvass results did not alter the outcome of the election."
According to both previously reported vote totals and the recanvass results, Hillary Clinton received more votes than Sanders in the Democratic primary.
On election night, unofficial results indicated that Clinton led Sanders by a margin of 1,924 votes. Counties later certified and reported results to the Secretary of State's office as required by law, showing a difference of 1,911 votes with 212,534 votes for Clinton and 210,623 votes for Sanders. The 13 vote difference was due to provisional votes and a discrepancy in absentee ballot totals in two counties. Today's recanvass results are consistent with the totals certified to the Secretary of State's office last week as required by law.
Per Kentucky law, the results of the recanvass shall become the official returns of each county. County-by-county results of the recanvasses are available at the Kentucky elections one-stop site, GoVoteKY.com.
A recanvass was also conducted in a tight race in the Republican primary for State Senate, 33rd District. John Yuen, who requested the recanvass, trailed his opponent, Shenita Rickman, by 38 votes. The recanvass did not change the results and outcome of the primary.
Today's recanvass marked the eighth Grimes has overseen as Secretary of State. Last year, she presided over a statewide recanvass in a close Republican primary for Kentucky governor with a margin of 83 votes. Historically, while recanvasses may have resulted in minor changes in the vote totals, they have never changed the outcome of elections.
Grimes, chair of the State Board of Elections, has called a meeting of the State Board of Elections on May 31 to certify the results of the Primary Election. All vote totals remain unofficial until the Board issues certificates of nomination next week.
