TOPEKA (KSNT) – The winner of the race for Kansas State Treasurer has yet to be decided as new developments have come forward in the recent recount request from one of the contenders.
Senator Caryn Tyson requested an official hand recount of the vote last week. She is in a tight race against her opponent, Representative Steven Johnson, who holds a slim lead over Tyson. On Aug. 12, the total votes for the race came in at 215,875 votes for Johnson and 215,500 for Tyson. Only 375 votes separated the two candidates vying for the Republican nominee for State Treasurer.
However, the gap has since widened according to Whitney Tempel, director of communications and policy with the Kansas Secretary of State. Johnson’s total votes come out to 219,363 while Tyson’s is recorded at 218,911. A total of 836 provisional ballots have yet to be reviewed and 102 counties have certified their results and reported them to the SOS.
At 5 p.m. on Aug. 15, Tyson scaled back her recount request from 55 counties to just six. These include Cloud, Harvey, McPherson, Ottawa, Dickinson and Barton counties, according to Tempel. These counties will be recounting advance ballots only.
A bond of $2,570.54 has been provided and accepted by the office of the SOS. The six selected counties are now clear to begin the hand recount of for the State Treasurer race.
