JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The close race for the open Stutsman County Commissioner seats triggered an automatic recount, which has been set for Wednesday, November 14th.

Election officials will begin reviewing ballots at 8 AM until completed. Stutsman County Auditor Nicole Meland and recount employees will tentatively meet at 4 PM to certify the recount results.

The official count had Ramone Gumke receiving 3,998 votes to Mark McPherson’s 3,980. An automatic recount happens when the margin of victory is less than 0.5%.

Stutsman County Auditor Nicole Meland says the recount will check to confirm all ballots are properly initialed and check to see if any under or over votes are tallied correctly.

A total of 9,819 ballots were cast during the November 6th General Election in Stutsman County. Dennis Ova and Steven Cichos received the most votes during the election.