UPDATED: Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 Candidate Calls For Recount

The Texas Secretary of State’s office states that a candidate has the grounds to petition for a recount if an election is determined by less than ten percent of the vote.

By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

UPDATE: The results of Monday, November 26, recount for Hays County Commissioner Precinct 3 are in.

According to Jennifer Anderson, Hays County Elections Administrator, the recount did not produce any changes to the election results. 

Hall has 30 days from the date on which the election was made official to file a contest. According to Hall’s campaign Facebook Page, he has filed a public information request “for all provisional ballots that the Ballot Board rejected.”

As of yet, there has been no report of a contest being filed with the County.

However, in an earlier post, Hall stated he intended to contest the results if there was no change in the outcome. 

On November 15, Hays County Commissioner Candidate, Jimmy Hall filed a petition for a manual recount for the Precinct 3 race.

According to unofficial election results, Hall lost the race against incumbent candidate, Lon Shell, by 37 votes.

In a Facebook post, Hall expressed concerns regarding the provisional ballots cast in the county.

Hall reminded his constituents that Democratic candidates for County Judge and County Clerk won; however, they were the only Democrats to win despite nearly 2,000 more democratic straight ticket votes.

According to Mark Kennedy, Hays County General Counsel, on Tuesday, November 20, Hall and Shell agreed to a change from manual recount to electronic recount.  

The Texas Secretary of State’s office states that a candidate has the grounds to petition for a recount if an election is determined by less than ten percent of the vote. Additionally, a candidate can call for an electronic vote with no grounds required.

If the result of the manual recount matches the election results, the petitioner is required to pay the accumulated costs of the recount. Hall has also publicly stated that he intends to contest the election if the election outcome does not change.

According to the Texas Secretary of State’s website a contested election is:

Election Contest:  An action in civil court to contest the result of an election. The tribunal hearing an election contest attempts to ascertain whether the outcome of the contested election, as shown by the final canvass, is not the true outcome because: (1) illegal votes were counted; or (2) an election officer or other person officially involved in the administration of the election: (A) prevented eligible voters from voting; (B) failed to count legal votes; or (C) engaged in other fraud or illegal conduct or made a mistake. The result of a “successful” election contest is that the court by order will state a new result for the election, or order a new election to be held.

According to Kennedy, Liz Gonzalez, County Clerk, will serve as the recount coordinator as Judge Bert Cobb is unable to do so.

The recount is scheduled for Monday, November 26.