Recounts rarely change vote outcomes

A new FairVote report finds that election recounts rarely change the outcome of a race. Margins tend to be exceptionally close for a change in outcome to be plausible. 

In the 6,297 statewide general elections from 2000 through September 2022, there were 35 completed statewide recounts. Only three of those 35 recounts overturned the outcome of the race. In all three, the original margin of victory was less than 0.06%. 

The report authors recommend that states automatically conduct statewide recounts up to a 0.1% margin as a best practice. 

They also note the troubling recent trend of recounts well outside the range where they could be considered consequential -- including in this year's Nevada Republican gubernatorial primary (11% margin) and Colorado Republican Secretary of State primary (14% margin), and for Kansas's "No Constitutional Right to Abortion" ballot measure (19% margin).