An election recount is held at Belmont Town Hall on September 9, 2026. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
When it comes to elections and recounts, each state sets their own statutes, recount triggers, deadlines to request a recount, and timeline for when the recount has to be completed.
What we know:
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) says recount procedures are categorized into:
- Automatic recounts
- Candidate — or voter-requested recounts
- Court-ordered election contests.
According to the NCSL, over half of U.S. states have laws that automatically trigger a state or county-funded recount if the vote margin between candidates is within a specific percentage threshold — most commonly 0.5% though some states use 0.25% or fixed vote counts.
In states without automatic triggers, or when the margin is wider than the automatic threshold, NCSL says 41 states and Washington, D.C. permit a losing candidate, a voter, a group of voters or other concerned parties can petition for a recount.
Who pays for election recounts?
Dig deeper:
The NCSL says costs associated with an automatic recount are paid for by the state or county that conducts the recount.
For the states that permit a candidate or other interested party to request a recount, NCSL says the petitioner has to pay a deposit toward the cost of conducting the recount and if the recount reverses the result of the election, that person’s deposit is refunded. If the recount does not change the election result, the petitioner is required to pay most of the costs associated with the recount.
Election recount systems in each state
Below is an overview of how election recounts are structured across all 50 states, including the primary mechanism — automatic vs. requested — and general timeline requirements:
The Source: This article includes information from the National Conference of State Legislatures. This story was reported from Orlando.