It's official: Measure 92 heads to recount with No leading by 809 votes

Kari Chisholm

The Secretary of State has confirmed what we've suspected might happen -- Measure 92 is going to a recount.

The final unofficial count is 752,664 votes in favor and 753,473 votes against -- an 809-vote difference. That's 49.973% for Yes and 50.027% for No. That 0.054% margin is well under the 0.2% margin that triggers a formal recount under Oregon law. In Oregon, a recount is a full statewide every-single-ballot recount.

While 809 votes out of 1.5 million cast is a tiny margin, it's very rare for recounts to change the outcome of elections.

In 2008, Oregon had a statewide recount for Measure 53 (civil forfeiture). In that case, the initial margin was nearly the same -- 0.056%. After the recount, the winning side expanded it's margin to 0.070%.

According to FairVote.org, there have been only 22 statewide recounts nationwide since 2000. Of those, just three changed the outcome. The median shift was just 0.015% in either direction.

By Kari Chisholm Nov. 24, 2014