Tulsa Elections Recount Ordered By Judge; Mayoral Ballots Undergoing Counting Process

A Tulsa judge ordered recounts of two City of Tulsa elections following requests by losing candidates who hoped for a different outcome.

In one case, City Council District 3, the recount didn’t change the outcome.

The recount in the race for Mayor is underway.

The Tulsa County Election Board completed the District 3 recount Thursday afternoon and reported Jackie Dutton lost three votes from the original count and Susan Frederick also lost three votes, leaving the outcome of Dutton winning by 186 votes the same.

The ballots cast in the race for Tulsa Mayor are being recounted, but the results are not anticipated for several days.

Two people examine each ballot, and two people record the vote, and if a dispute arises, the election board stands by to make a ruling.

“These machines are usually dead on the money. When you count them by hand, there will be very little difference at the end,” said Gwen Freeman, the Tulsa Election Board Secretary.

The Mayor's race recount was requested by third-place finisher Brent VanNorman, who hopes to make up a 438 vote gap so he can be in the runoff, instead of Commissioner Karen Keith.

“We're not alleging there was an impropriety at all, we just want to make sure again that things are accurate, and on an election of this size, there are certainly opportunities for things to happen that can be inaccurate so we're certainly looking forward to having accurate results,” he said.

The top finisher, Rep. Monroe Nichols, is confident the results won't change.

“I don't think one vote is going to be different from election day,” he said.

Freeman said while VanNorman paid the legally required $12,000 for the recount, the actual cost to taxpayers will be much higher. She estimated the cost at $10,000 to $12,000 per day, with the recount likely to take three days to complete, with results expected Monday at the earliest.