Recounts historically don’t change much about election results, especially when the winner has won by tens of thousands of votes. What is an election recount? An election recount is when the votes in an election are recounted because the initial result was either too close to decisively call, or when one candidate, group of voters, or another party requests a recount, usually because they’ve lost. Requested recounts vs. automatic recountsSome states have statutory provisions that trigger automatic recounts. Beyond the automatic process, 43 states and Washington D.C. have additional laws for requesting a recount—as do most of the 21 states that trigger automatic recounts under various circumstances.

Source: The Nation November 19, 2020 18:45 UTC