One month after Election Day, Rebecca Keltie is expected to win Colorado House District 16 by a scant three-vote margin. But that may not be the final word on the election.

The Secretary of State’s Office announced Thursday afternoon that the recount process certified Keltie, a Republican, as the winner of the election over incumbent Democratic Rep. Stephanie Vigil . The state ordered a mandatory recount for the race after the two candidates finished with six votes separating them in November, easily the closest margin of any state race this year.

“The recount in House District 16 has now been completed and certified by the official canvas board, including the representatives from both the Republican and Democrat party. I am humbled and honored to have been elected to serve the voters of House District 16,” Keltie said in a victory statement Thursday night.

The recount, completed Thursday, found three more votes for Vigil, and the race was determined to be a tie. But the nonpartisan canvass board reversed three votes for Vigil, making Keltie the winner.

Vigil has indicated she is not conceding the race yet.

“There are legal remedies available to me to investigate possible variables that would return the results to what the recount process initially determined, but I will need to consult with legal experts before making a decision of that magnitude,” she said in a statement Thursday.

Vigil said before the recount she would honor the results of the process.

Vigil said in an interview Thursday afternoon that she was holding onto her right to challenge the election outcome for the moment.

“I want to make sure all of my questions are answered. I didn’t want to sprint to a decision until I was sure, because of all of these new variables that I didn’t see coming,” Vigil said.

In her victory statement, Keltie thanked the voters who supported her optimistic view of Colorado’s future.

In her statement, Vigil criticized Keltie for questioning election results during the 2020 election but now being “suddenly fully confident in the very system she has repeatedly attacked.”

The Republican on the canvass board, Candice Stutzriem, voted not to certify the 2024 general election results Nov. 25. She cited the password breach for election equipment that originated with the office of Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who didn’t share that information with county clerks until it became public through a state GOP announcement just days before the Nov. 5 election.

The district represents eastern Colorado Springs and part of unincorporated El Paso County in the House. There were 41,276 votes cast in the House race but the county recount included nearly 387,000 ballots cast in November to make sure nothing was left out.

Vigil won her election in the district in 2020 by a relatively close 710 votes. If the current results hold for Rep.-elect Keltie, Vigil said that she “absolutely” planned to run for the seat again in 2026.

Recounts in Colorado in recent years rarely change the outcome of a race. A recount didn’t change the results for the primary in House District 58 last June, where now-Rep.-elect Larry Don Suckla defeated his primary opponent, Mark Roeber, by three votes, a lead verified by the recount.

The Secretary of State’s Office also confirmed the recount results Thursday for House District 19, which includes eastern Boulder County and southern Weld County. Republican Dan Woog gained one vote over Democrat Jillaire McMillan during the recount, giving him a 110-vote victory in the election.

What about a tie?

A Secretary of State’s Office spokesman wouldn’t comment on what they would do in case of a tie.

State law, CRS 1-11-101, dictates that the Secretary of State will determine “by lot” which candidates shall be declared the representative.

While it is possible that this has never happened before for a statewide office, it’s happened several times at local government levels, and fairly recently.

According to 9News, in 2017, the Adams County Clerk and Recorder used a fishbowl to determine which of two candidates would be seated on the Northglenn City Council.

Two other races that year were also decided “by lot,” in Julesburg School District RE-1, which also used a fishbowl, and Cripple Creek City Council, where the person picking the highest card from a deck of cards was determined to be the winner.