With incumbent Sheriff Chris Nanos leading his opponent by less than 500 votes, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Thursday to recommend a recount in the closely watched race.
That vote is a procedural step which includes a petition to the Superior Court to conduct a recount for the office.
Nanos was leading opponent Heather Lappin by 495 votes with 100% of the ballots counted, according to Pima County official results.
Nanos has come under fire, including from the county board, for placing his opponent on leave in the final weeks of the race.
It is the only race for which the board is requesting a recount. Earlier in the day, the board met virtually and voted to certify the canvass of the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.
The vote for a recount in the sheriff’s race, which took place at a separate meeting that same morning, passed with 4 in favor and 0 against; supervisor Matt Heinz was absent from the meeting.
A recount is automatically triggered when the vote difference between candidates is less than or equal to one-half of one percent, or 0.5%, of the total votes cast, according to state law. Recounts don’t typically change election results, according to the Associated Press.
The margin for the office of Pima County sheriff was just over 0.1%, according to a county calculation of the results. Dan Jurkowitz, supervising attorney in the elections unit of the Pima County Attorney’s Office, confirmed at Tuesday’s meeting that the vote margin required a recount.
There is no exact timeline for the recount, but with 487,225 ballots cast in the sheriff’s race, it could take around 14 calendar days, say election officials. A total of 243,860 votes were cast for Nanos; 243,365 were cast for his Republican opponent Lappin.
“Once we have the court order, the recount can begin,” said Elections Director Constance Hargrove in a Pima County press release dated Nov. 19. “We must run all ballots through the tabulator and adjudicate any ballots for Sheriff.”
The Secretary of State’s office will be responsible for programming the electronic voting equipment that will be used in the recount, according to a Nov. 14 letter from State Election Director Lisa Marra to county election officials.
Then the process is delegated to Pima County election officials, Marra said. “The automatic recount is only for this race,” her letter noted.
The county elections department will run the paper ballots through the tabulation machines, which are programmed to only read the recounted race. The tabulation machines passed a post-election logic and accuracy test on Nov. 18, the county release said.
Nanos did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the approved recount.
Lappin told Arizona Luminaria she respects the process and is grateful to supporters.
“I am more than proud of the campaign we ran and believe we achieved so much regardless of the results,” she said earlier this week.
Making it official
On Thursday morning, the board met virtually and voted to certify the canvass of the Nov. 5, 2024 general election.
To canvass an election is “a post-election process that aggregates and confirms that all valid ballots cast in the election are accurately counted and included in the final election results,” according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an independent government agency that serves as a resource for election administration.
The supervisors voted unanimously to approve the canvass. Supervisor Heinz of District 2 was not present at the meeting.
“All the statutory requirements for conducting an election have been followed,” Hargrove said.
Hargrove presented a lengthy document to the supervisors before the virtual meeting, which detailed the number of ballots sent out, cast, cured, processed and ultimately counted. The report was not available to the public at the time of the meeting, though a memo summarizing the report was posted on the county’s website.
In total, 518,595 ballots were counted, Hargrove said.
Jurkowitz explained that the board has a mandatory duty to certify the election results. Following the counties’ certification, the Arizona Secretary of State will then certify the results from each county and approve the final state election results.
Chair Adelita Grijalva, of District 5, mentioned that Pima County received national attention for how slow the county counted the votes, but also said, “I think it’s important for us to note that in every election I think we’re getting better,” Grijalva said.
“Every valid vote was counted,” she added.
A closely watched race
The sheriff’s race erupted into controversy in October after early voting had begun, when Nanos placed Lappin on leave from her department job in the final weeks of the campaign, along with union leader Sgt. Aaron Cross.
On Nov. 12, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to request an outside investigation by the Arizona Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney General into Nanos’ actions.
“The Board of Supervisors has a responsibility to hold Nanos accountable,” said Heinz in a press release in October. “Sheriff Nanos’ reckless and vindictive action against his political rival is nothing but an attempt to smear and silence his opponent.”
That motion is the second time in a little over a year that the board has requested an outside party review of actions taken by Nanos.
The board of supervisors has authority defined by both state law and county policy. That includes financial oversight of county departments including the sheriff’s department, and the ability to suggest other agencies investigate alleged wrongdoing.
In 2023, the board voted on a county personnel policy that made it possible for a county employee to continue to serve in their job while running for elected office.
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