Who pays for election recounts? | Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota

NPR Marketplace
October 28, 2020
Kimberly Adams

The record fundraising and spending in the 2020 campaign is unlikely to end on Election Day. Candidates and campaigns will still have plenty of bills to pay, and potentially new expenses such as potential recounts in close races.

The rules differ across the country in terms of how states handle recounts, but in many states, if a race is really close, states will automatically double-check the tally. In other states, a voter or a losing candidate can request a recount.

“The majority of recounts are, what we call close vote margin, taxpayer-funded recounts,” said Mark Halvorson with Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota, an election monitoring group that keeps track of recount laws and regulations all over the country. “About 35 states have these provisions when the margin is anywhere between about 0.1% and 0.5%.”