A machine recount Thursday for a seat on the Lewis County Hospital District 1, which does business as Arbor Health Morton Hospital, confirmed that Christopher Schumaker won by six votes.
The Nov. 28 results showed a separation of six votes — a .32% difference — between Schumaker and Jonathan Mark Chandler, with Schumaker at 919 votes to Chandler’s 913. In the race, 55 voters wrote in a candidate.
The tight margin was within the .5% difference for a machine recount to be required in Washington state, but not within the .25% necessary for a mandatory manual recount.
According to the Lewis County Auditor’s Office, the Thursday recount reviewed the undervotes in the election — eligible voters who selected other candidates on their ballot for different races but didn't vote in this race.
Upon the review of 673 under-voted ballots, the vote tally in the race remained unchanged. Following the recount, the canvassing board certified an amended certificate of election.
