Mary Norwood told supporters early Wednesday morning that she’ll request a recount in the incredibly tight race to become Atlanta’s 60th mayor in history.
So what happens during a recount?
According to Dr. Andra Gillespie, a political analyst, with such a narrow margin, she is not surprised Norwood asked for the recount.
"So first, they will go back and they're going to check off machine numbers to be sure that everybody who voted on election day, that they got the numbers right and that all the arithmetic adds up. But, what she also mentioned was that there are other ballots that haven't been counted yet. Provisional ballots, you know, military ballots, that could have come in yesterday that would still count if they arrived."
"So, when you have a margin that is this narrow, it is totally understandable that a candidate, especially the one who is the underdog candidate at the time, to want to just count everything to make sure that everything is completely accurate. So, it's perfectly understandable that Mary Norwood would request this recount."
Keisha Lance Bottoms finished with 759 more votes than Norwood, and declared victory to her supporters, which included current Mayor Kasim Reed. Now Bottoms has her sights set on what will happen next.
According to the Georgia secretary of state, a losing candidate can request a recount if the difference in votes between the winner and loser is not more than one percent of the total votes cast in the race.
In terms of overall percentage, Bottoms and Norwood each received 50% of the vote.
DeKalb and Fulton counties first have to certify their election returns, which could happen before the end of the week. Norwood has two business days following certification of the results to request the recount.
This would be the second time Norwood has requested a recount in an Atlanta mayor's race. In 2009, with about 84,000 votes cast in a runoff between her and Kasim Reed, Reed won by 714 votes.
In 2009, the recount was finished eight days after the Dec. 1 runoff, with Norwood conceding on Dec. 9.
Here is the section of the Georgia code that relates to recounts:
"Whenever the difference between the number of votes received by a candidate who has been declared nominated for an office in a primary election or who has been declared elected to an office in an election or who has been declared eligible for a run-off primary or election and the number of votes received by any other candidate or candidates not declared so nominated or elected or eligible for a runoff shall be not more than 1 percent of the total votes which were cast for such office therein, any such candidate or candidates receiving a sufficient number of votes so that the difference between his or her vote and that of a candidate declared nominated, elected, or eligible for a runoff is not more than 1 percent of the total votes cast, within a period of two business days following the certification of the election results, shall have the right to a recount of the votes cast, if such request is made in writing by the losing candidate. If the office sought is a federal or state office voted upon by the electors of more than one county, the request shall be made to the Secretary of State who shall direct that the recount be performed in all counties in which electors voted for such office and notify the superintendents of the several counties involved of the request. In all other cases, the request shall be made to the superintendent. The superintendent or superintendents shall order a recount of such votes to be made immediately. If, upon such recount, it is determined that the original count was incorrect, the returns and all papers prepared by the superintendent, the superintendents, or the Secretary of State shall be corrected accordingly and the results recertified."
