Page council adopts canvas and files for automatic recounts; attorney outlines timeline

The Page City Council adopted a resolution to canvas the 2024 election and initiated the required steps to pursue automatic recounts in two races that met the statutory margin trigger.

Christina (identified in the meeting as an election attorney with Pierce Coleman) told the council an automatic recount is required when two candidates' margin equals one-half of one percent of the votes cast for those candidates. "There's a formula that the legislature has put in place…when you have two candidates where their votes…they essentially have a margin that's equal to one-half of one percent of the number of votes cast for both such candidates for a particular office — it triggers an automatic recount," she said.

Christina walked the council through the recount stages: programming the county tabulation equipment to run only the affected races, logic-and-accuracy (L&A) testing before and after tabulation, the presence of party observers, and post-tabulation reporting if discrepancies appear. She said the county had posted required notices and scheduled an L&A test for Friday at 9:00 a.m., and that the city has a court hearing set for 9:15 a.m. the next morning in Coconino County Superior Court to request the recount order and an expedited return of results. The petition asks the court for results to be returned to the clerk by Dec. 3; Christina said the county prefers Dec. 5 and that the parties will likely exchange objections about timing.

Councilors asked practical questions about scope and timing. Christina said the recount was triggered by the candidates "on the bubble," but because the council seats are elected at-large the county will run the entire council-member race through the recount logic, not separate individual ballots. She also explained how results are handled: the county will provide sealed results to the city clerk, who presents them to the court; the court will publicly announce results and order the clerk to issue certificates of election, and the city will then publish the winners.

A member of the public, Debbie Rree, said she has received calls from state legislators seeking information about recall language and urged the council to compile records. Christina and staff advised that public records requests to the city and county are the appropriate mechanism to collect and share those records.

Council discussed scheduling a special meeting to seat newly elected members once the court announces results; candidates' training dates on Dec. 12–13 were cited as a reason to expedite the timeline. Christina cautioned that if tabulation differences were to flip certified winners (an outcome she called "rare" and largely untested in practice) the council would need to address those consequences later.

The council moved to approve Resolution 1327-1331 to canvas the election and proceed with the recount petition. The transcript records the motion and the adjournment but does not contain a roll-call tally for that resolution.