The 2024 election looks very close in the polls. If the actual results are this close after Election Day, it could depend on a recount in a key state.
Rules about when recounts occur and the procedures they involve vary from state to state because elections are administered locally. Those rules were in focus in 2020, after Joe Biden won several key battleground states by razor-thin margins.
Former President Donald Trump requested and was granted recounts in several of these states, but none of them changed the outcome of the election there. Typically, recounts change the final margin of a race slightly, but when the vote is close enough, they can have a real impact.
Ahead of Election Day, here’s an update on recount rules in states expected to be the closest in the presidential race.
Arizona
Candidates do not require a recount in Arizona, but the state requires an automatic recount if the race is decided by less than (or equal to) 0.5% of the votes cast in the race. The threshold was lower in 2020 (0.1%), but the state has since passed legislation raising the automatic recount threshold to 0.5%.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers It approved new measures in 2024 this would shorten the time needed for a potential recalculation. That means Arizona will be able to conduct a recount and not miss the deadline for the December meeting where members of the Electoral College vote.
Georgia
In Georgia, a candidate may request a recount if the margin of the race is within 0.5 percentage points, provided that the request is made within two business days of certification.
Georgia’s 2020 presidential election has come under considerable scrutiny in the days since Election Day, given both the tight margin and Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud.
Election officials, as part of the hand-counting of nearly 5 million ballots after the election statewide risk-limiting audit permitted by new state law.
Then, after the state confirmed Biden’s victoryThe Trump campaign demanded a recount of the caras he is entitled to under state law. (This recount did not change the result.)
State law also allows election officials to request a recount if there is a “suspected error or discrepancy in the data,” and the secretary of state can request a recount if a candidate believes a “suspected error or discrepancy” has occurred.
Michigan
Michigan law provides for an automatic recount if the margin of victory in a race is 2,000 votes or fewer. A candidate can request a recount under state law “but only if, because of fraud or error, the candidate believes the candidate would have a reasonable chance of winning.”
The state recently made changes to Michigan’s recount law, but none will take effect until Election Day.
Nevada
There is no provision for automatic recounts, but a candidate can file a request as long as he pays the recount charges and submits the request within three days of certification.
North Carolina
If the margin of victory is less than 0.5% of the votes cast or 10,000 votes, a candidate may request a recount.
Pennsylvania
If the difference between the two candidates is within 0.5%, the state automatically starts a recount. However, if all three voters claim fraud or error in that precinct, they can request a recount of votes in a particular precinct.
Wisconsin
The state allows candidates to request a recount, as Trump did in 2020. But a candidate seeking a recount must pay the costs if the margin of victory exceeds 0.25 percentage points, as Trump did in the election. paid $3 million for a partial recount this did not result in any major changes to the 2020 vote count.