POCATELLO — The Bannock County Elections Office on Wednesday will officially recount the ballots cast for the Republican nomination for Bannock County assessor during the May 17 primary election.

Just three votes separated GOP candidates Greg Cates and Anita Hymas by the time all votes were counted during the early morning hours of May 18, with Hymas narrowly securing the victory.

Unofficial election results showed Hymas received 4,582 votes, or 50.02 percent to Cates’ 4,579 votes, or 49.98 percent.

Both candidates are hopeful that a recount goes their way.

“Well, I am hoping the recount shows three more votes in my favor,” Cates said. “The Attorney General’s Office and secretary of state came down and did an audit here in Bannock County on Friday and I think everything came out square on that front, so I am not anticipating there to be a shellshock of a change with the winner of this race, but with only three votes separating us, I just couldn’t go forward without requesting a recount. But regardless of the outcome, I am OK with whether I win or lose. It might help me sleep better at the end of the night knowing that I checked twice.”

Hymas said she, too, would have requested a recount had she been on the losing side after election night.

“Oh my gosh, I was pretty shocked to see how close that race was,” Hymas said. “I am definitely looking forward to winning again, so I am hoping that it turns out in my favor. If this were on the other shoe, I would be doing the same thing. If it was 10 or 20 votes, I would understand, but it’s only three votes and I think anybody would want a recount in that situation.”

Idaho election law {span}states that a losing candidate for an election may request a free recount of the votes if the winning margin is less than or equal to one-tenth of one percent (0.1 percent) of the total votes cast or five votes, whichever is greater.

Cates officially filed for a recount on May 24 after the Board of County Commissioners canvassed the election at their regular business meeting, according to Bannock County spokesperson Emma Iannacone.

Staff from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office will oversee the recount, which will be streamed live on bannockcounty.us/elections.

The recount will first involve Cates selecting two or more precincts that contain 500 ballots which will require a hand count from local elections officials, according to {span}state code{span}. So long the hand count falls within one percent or two votes, whichever is greater, of the results from the tabulation machines on election night, the remaining ballots will be recounted using the automated vote tabulating systems, {span}Idaho code states{span}. Otherwise, all 9,161 ballots cast in the Cates-Hymas race will be recounted by hand.

Bannock County Elections Officials expect results of the recount to be finalized by 4 p.m. Wednesday, unless a variation arises during the initial headcount resulting in every ballot being hand-counted. If the elections tabulation machines cannot be used for all ballots, Dixon said it could take at least a week or longer to count every ballot cast in the Hymas-Cates race by hand.

So long as the recount holds true, Hymas will face Democrat Tamara Code in the November general election. During the May 17 primary election, Code secured 68.9 percent of the vote, or 1,316 votes, while her Democratic challenger, Bret Hochhalter, secured 31.1 percent of the vote, or 594 votes.