MISSOULA — While the municipal election has already been over for two weeks, one Missoula race is still in the balance.
A candidate for the Missoula City Council filed his request on Tuesday for an official recount in the Ward 6 race.
Right now, progressive candidate Nick Shontz trails conservative Sandra Vasecka by 12 votes. The race remains within the margin for a candidate to seek a recount.
The Missoula Current reports that because the voter margin remained outside the required percentage, the recount wasn't done automatically -- meaning Shontz had to fund the endeavor himself.
He secured a $2,000 bond for those costs and now Missoula County Commissioners can move forward with the recount on Thursday at 1 p.m. That process calls for each ballot to be counted by hand.
Shontz explained that his supporters aided in his final decision to request the recount.
“A lot of folks have asked me about the recount and were just really supportive and wanted to know what they could do to help and going over the numbers and thinking about the results and the outpouring of support really compelled me to decide inevitably to ask for that recount,” Shontz said.
We'll have official results for the Ward 6 City Council race on Thursday.
