COLORADO SPRINGS — Weeks after election day, a tight race for State House District 16 in Colorado Springs is headed for an automatic recount.
Just six votes separate Republican candidate Rebecca Keltie, who currently leads, and incumbent Representative Stephanie Vigil.
While the race is close, it is not the closest to ever take place in El Paso County, even recently. In 2019 for example, two ballot initiatives in El Paso County were even closer.
Manitou Springs Issue 2D was a sales tax increase passed by just five votes. Another ballot initiative with the Stratmoor Hills Sanitation District passed by just two votes.
In 1987, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, a school board seat in Peyton was won by a singular vote, at the time it didn't qualify for a recount.
In the 1987 election, the top two vote-getters earned spots on the school board. The second-place finisher won with 91 votes, one of the incumbents placed third with 90 votes. Under state law at the time, The Gazette-Telegraph reported a mandatory recount was not required because state mandatory recount laws were if the candidate lost by one-half of one percent for the top winner.
In 2006, state lawmakers changed the mandatory recount laws for elections where there is more than one winner, which is common for school board elections. As is the case under current law, a mandatory recount is required if the margin applies to the candidate who won with the least amount of votes.
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How easy is it to find an affordable home? If someone earns $51,000 a year and a third of their income goes to rent, they would need to find an apartment for about $1,280 a month. News5's Eleanor Sheahan takes you on a journey searching for this answer.
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