The close congressional primary race between Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller and Reno Assemblywoman Sharron Angle has generated more than speculation that Angle may seek a recount.
It generated an inquiry to the Douglas County Clerk/Treasuer's Office from the Angle campaign.
Barbara Griffin-Reed, Douglas County's top election official, said she received a phone call from someone in the Angle campaign researching the possibility of a recount.
Angle defeated Heller in Douglas County by seven votes, but Heller won the race for the Second Congressional District by 428 votes or just over half a percentage point.
The district encompasses all 17 Nevada counties, including a portion of Clark. Angle won in Washoe and Elko counties, but ran into trouble in Carson City and more rural Nevada counties.
Griffin-Reed said that all the counties must canvass the vote before any recount can be considered. Douglas County commissioners will canvass, or certify, the election at a special meeting on Monday. All counties must have the election certified by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
After that, state law gives candidates three days or until 5 p.m. Aug. 25 to file a formal challenge.
According to Griffin-Reed, her office will then have five days to recount ballots from three precincts. Unless there is a difference, the election results will stand.
Griffin-Reed said it will cost $10,000-$12,000 to do a recount in Douglas County. At that rate, a recount in all 17 counties could cost more than $200,000, a cost which must be borne by the candidate challenging the race.
The last time the Douglas Clerk's Office conducted a recount was for the Ensign-Reid election for U.S. Senate in 1998.
Griffin-Reed said she felt the chances of the election being overturned in a recount are slim.
"With the new technology, there would have to be a lot of provisional ballots out there that would make a difference in my opinion," she said. "Some county would have to have a problem with absentee ballots. I don't see there being any errors on our touch screens."
Reed said that moving the primary to Aug. 15 will help if there is a recount.
"If we had a general election breathing down our necks, there might be panic," she said.
