Dallas committee forwards manual recount report for Place 6 after five‑vote discrepancy

The Ad Hoc Canvassing Committee of the Dallas City Council voted unanimously to forward a report on the manual recount for Council Place 6 to the full council for adoption after elections staff reported a five‑vote discrepancy between the manual hand count and the original electronic tally.

Elections staff member Billy Ray, who oversaw the recount process for the canvassing effort, described the hand count procedure and the committee's findings. "Recounts are done based on paper ballots," Billy Ray said. He explained teams of three reviewed ballots box by box, two counters recorded tallies independently, and staff reconciled any mismatches before transferring totals to a spreadsheet for comparison with the original report.

Billy Ray told the committee the hand count corrected some entry errors and produced a net difference of five votes from the original electronic results. The hand count changes by candidate were: Monica, +2; LaPadreira, +1; Michelle Williams, -1; and Michael Stiller, -1. "Whatever comes out the hand count, that's it," Billy Ray said, summarizing the legal effect he cited: once a recount is completed and boxes are closed, the hand count is final under the law.

Billy Ray said the discrepancy appears to be localized rather than district‑wide and noted a recent large turnout location, West Dallas College, as one plausible source, but he described that as an assumption that would require additional hand counting to confirm. "But that's an assumption," Billy Ray said.

Committee member Rudy praised the conduct of the recount and the staff who ran it. "This was the best selection we've had in Dallas County since I've been on council," Rudy said, adding thanks on behalf of the committee and the council.

After discussion, the committee chair moved to forward the report and resolution accepting the manual recount results to the full city council for adoption; the motion was moved and seconded (names not specified in the transcript) and carried by a unanimous voice vote. The chair called for the ayes and declared the motion unanimous.

The full City Council will consider the committee's report and the recommended resolution at a future meeting; no date for full‑council consideration was specified in the transcript.