>> Results were revealed on Wednesday after the votes had been recounted within every county.
Is this “recount” actually the initial count — measure twice, cut once?
You fill in your ballot and it is put in the optical scanner (which is locked BTW). The electronic count is sent in that night as soon as the polls close. The ballots of people who voted in person are not recounted.
They are matched to make sure the number of ballots in the machine match the number they show should have been cast.
They then count the provisional ballots, absentee ballots, which must be at the clerks office by 8pm election day and checked against the signature on file, account for the spoiled ballots and the unused ballots.
This can change the count a bit, especially the provisional and absentee ballots. I had to vote provisional one year as I moved the day before the election. They checked to make sure I had not voted under my old address as well as my new one and that my new address was valid.
When all of that is done then everything is sealed up and the vote is final.