How the recount process works

If a defeated candidate wants to petition for a recount, he or she has to wait until the state canvass is completed, which begins Nov. 24, said Susan Ames, spokesperson with the Montana Secretary of State’s office That is because this is a state, and not county, race, she said. 

In the Nov. 3 election, Republican Jim Buterbaugh plans to petition for a recount for the Senate District 38 seat. 

In order for a recount to take place, the defeated candidate must file a petition for recount with the Secretary of State within five days of the official state canvass, said Ames.