The Secretary of State's Office released what it would cost five GOP candidates to obtain machine-tabulated recounts tied to the June 28 primary — and the costs have gone up.
All the candidates will have to provide certified funds to cover the recount costs by close of business Thursday.
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters, who lost the GOP nod for Secretary of State to former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson, will need to provide certified funds in the amount of $255,912.33.
She and the other four candidates are seeking hand recounts, which they aren't going to get. The Secretary of State's Office told the five candidates the recount would be conducted in the same tabulation methods as the original count, which was done by machine. That election rule has been in place since Scott Gessler served as secretary of state from 2011 to 2015, according to the Elections Division.
Meanwhile, it would cost state Rep. Ron Hanks of Cañon City, who lost to Joe O'Dea for the GOP nod for U.S. Senate, $256,172.33 to conduct a recount.
Initially, Hanks asked for a recount only in El Paso and Pueblo counties. However, Annie Orloff, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office, told Colorado Politics that the office could not conduct a recount in just two counties for a statewide race and said that Hanks agreed to a statewide recount.
The slight difference between the costs for a statewide recount on the secretary of state's race versus the U.S. Senate race resulted from more ballots being cast in the U.S. Senate race, Orloff said.
Lynda Zamora Wilson, who lost a primary bid for the Senate District 9 seat to Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument, will have to come up with $20,819.87, the same amount required for a recount of the primary contest between Karl Dent Sr. and Rep. Mary Bradfield for the House District 21 seat.
Summer Groubert, who lost the House District 18 primary to Shana Black, will have to come up with $21,594.85.
Peters announced earlier today she had raised $230,000 for the latest recount request.
Tina Peters announces raising $230,000 to pay for recount
Hanks and Peters submitted requests for recounts earlier this month, and were told to come up with $236,179 each for those recounts. Neither provided those funds by the deadline.
The reason for the higher costs for the Peters and Hanks recounts is a matter of timing, the Secretary of State's Office said.
"It is worth noting that the reason for increased costs per recount since requests were made previously this month is that now counties would potentially be starting a recount on Friday and must complete that work by next Thursday, Aug. 4 as required by statute. This may require work to be done over the weekend in addition to bringing in additional support to process a large number of ballots in a shorter amount of time," the Secretary of State's Office said.
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