There's no mandatory recount for Pennsylvania's special election

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 3/14/2018, 6:48 a.m.
A recount is not mandatory in Tuesday's special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of State …
A recount is not mandatory in Tuesday's special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of State spokesperson Wanda Murren./GettyImage

By Adam Levy, Gary Tuchman and Sophie Tatum, CNN

(CNN) -- A recount is not mandatory in Tuesday's special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, according to Pennsylvania Secretary of State spokesperson Wanda Murren.

Despite the tight vote count, Murren said there was no recount requirement for this election because it's a district race, not statewide.

Early Wednesday morning, there was still no clear-cut winner, as the vote margin remained neck and neck between Republican Rick Saccone and Democrat Conor Lamb with all votes counted except absentee ballots.

However, Murren noted that petitions for a recount are allowed. Those require three voters from each precinct, and they have five days after the county completes its computation to file the petition.

The race is to fill the seat of former Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned after allegedly urging a woman he was having an affair with to have an abortion. President Donald Trump comfortably won the red district in 2016.

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