Colorado Secretary of State Announces Mandatory Recount of Colorado House District 3 Race

Denver, November 30, 2022 - Today, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office ordered a mandatory recount of the results for the race for Colorado’s U.S. House District 3. Because the vote differential in this race is within 0.5% of the winner’s total, a recount is required according to Colorado Statute § 1-10.5-101(1)(b).

All counties within U.S. House District 3 have been notified to begin preparations to proceed with a recount for this race, which must be completed by Tuesday, December 13, 2022, as required by statute.

“The results of the District 3 race reinforce the fact that every vote matters,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “Colorado voters have made their voices heard, and I am ordering this recount in accordance with Colorado law to confirm the will of the voters.” 

Once the recount begins, the 27 counties that are completely or partially in U.S. House District 3 will work with their bipartisan canvass boards to complete a logic and accuracy test (LAT) on the required tabulation equipment. Following the LAT tests, the counties will begin recounting all ballots for the US House District 3 race in the same manner they were processed during the election, meaning all counties will rescan ballots using tabulation equipment with the exception of San Juan County, which will manually recount ballots.

On Friday, November 18, Colorado began the statewide bipartisan Risk-Limiting Audit (RLA) – a post-election audit that gives a statistical level of confidence that the outcome of an election is correct. Bipartisan county audit boards successfully completed the audit on November 22. The reported winner in all the audited races was confirmed.

Colorado’s U.S. House District 3 is comprised of 26 complete counties, as well as part of Eagle County. Those 26 counties include: Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos, Costilla, Delta, Dolores, Garfield, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, La Plata, Las Animas, Mesa, Mineral, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Otero, Ouray, Pitkin, Pueblo, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande, San Juan, San Miguel, Saguache.

To view the recount order, click here.

C.R.S. 1-10.5-101. Recounts required – expenses:

(1)(b)  A recount of any election contest shall be held if the difference between the highest number of votes cast in that election contest and the next highest number of votes cast in that election contest is less than or equal to one-half of one percent of the highest vote cast in that election contest. If there is more than one person to be elected in an election contest, a recount shall be held if the difference between the votes cast for the candidate who won the election with the least votes and the candidate who lost the election with the most votes is less than or equal to one-half of one percent of the votes cast for the candidate who won the election with the least votes. A recount shall occur only after the canvass board certifies the original vote count.

(2)  Except as provided in section 1-10.5-106, any expenses incurred in conducting a recount in any political subdivision shall be paid by the entity that certified the candidate, ballot question, or ballot issue for the ballot. Members of the canvass board who assist in any recount shall receive the same fees authorized for counting judges in section 1-6-115.

C.R.S. 1-10.5-102. Recounts for congressional, state, and district offices, state ballot questions, and state ballot issues.

(1)  If the secretary of state determines that a recount is required for the office of United States senator, representative in congress, any state office or district office of state concern, any state ballot question, or any state ballot issue certified for the ballot by the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall order a complete recount of all the votes cast for that office, state ballot question, or state ballot issue no later than the thirtieth day after the election.