State Election Board orders recount in House runoff race decided by two votes

OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) — The Oklahoma State Election Board has ordered a recount for a Republican Oklahoma house district runoff election decided by just two votes.

In Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff election for the seat representing Oklahoma House District 20, Republican Jonathan Wilk beat fellow Republican Mike Whaley by a margin of two votes.

Wilk received 1,668 votes. Whaley received 1,666.

On Thursday, News 4 learned Whaley officially filed a petition with the Oklahoma State Election Board, asking for a recount.

In turn, Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Zinax officially ordered a recount for the HD20 race.

HD20 spans parts of both Cleveland and McClain County.

Zinax ordered the recount to take place in front of judges in both counties simultaneously at 9 a.m. on Sept. 5.

Complicating matters, the State Election Board tells News 4 at least 10 provisional ballots were cast in the race.

Provisional ballots are ballots cast by voters who may have a discrepancy with their voter registration status upon showing up to vote.

According to the state election board, poll workers offer a provisional ballot to a voter if one or more of the following situations occurs:

• The voter does not have or does not provide an acceptable proof of identity.
• The voter’s name, on an otherwise valid proof of identity document, does not substantially conform to the voter’s name in the Precinct Registry.
• The voter disputes the political affiliation, school district, or municipality listed in the Precinct Registry.
• The voter meets the criteria for a uniformed services or overseas voter.

Election board officials say the practice of issuing provisional ballots is very standard, and most, if not every race in the state probably had at least one provisional ballot submitted.

Provisional ballots are not counted in vote totals until the election board can verify whether the person who cast it was actually eligible to vote.

Election board officials told News 4 they are working to certify the validity of the 10 provisional ballots cast in the HD20 primary, and expect to have an answer as to whether any of them are eligible to be counted by Friday at 5 p.m.

The results of the race could potentially change depending on how many, if any, of the 10 provisional ballots are deemed eligible.

For example, if all 10 provisional ballots are deemed eligible to count toward the results, and at least 7 of the provisional ballots voted for Whaley, Whaley would become the winner.

News 4 will update this story as more develops.

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