301 people voted incorrectly in a Congressional primary that could come down to 42 votes

Roughly 300 people “over-voted” in a Congressional primary election that has come down to a much smaller margin and must now go to a recount.

In the Democratic primary for Congressional District 3, which encompasses part of Phoenix, former vice mayor Yassamin Ansari is unofficially the winner by just 42 votes over former lawmaker Raquel Terán.

The margin is so small that the election has to go to an automatic recount. But according to county elections officials, 301 people incorrectly voted for more than one candidate, meaning they didn’t weigh in on that race.

If those voters had filled in their ballots correctly, the race might never have gone to a recount, giving Ansari the win. Or it could have been enough to flip the election results.

Yassamin Ansari for Congress, Raquel Terán

When there’s an over-vote, a tabulator machine will alert election workers to the problem, as it can’t detect the voter’s intent.

A bipartisan team will then review the race to see if it’s a true over-vote, and check whether the voter has given a clear indication of who they’re trying to vote for.

If there is some clear indication, such as a voter crossing out one filled in bubble and writing “yes” next to the other candidate’s filled-in bubble, then the vote can go to the correct candidate. But in many of these cases, the intention is not clear, and the voters’ information isn’t visible.

For this particular race, a margin of 191 votes or less is enough to trigger a recount.

Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett told the county board of supervisors that the over-voters are a small minority of voters, not constituting an alarming percentage. According to Jarrett; 99% of voters did not over-vote.

The Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the statewide election results on Thursday.

After that, the recount is expected to start Thursday afternoon and go on throughout the weekend. The results will be presented to the court.