Carmen Llanes Pulido requests recount in Austin mayoral race

Editor's Note: The video above shows coverage from when current Austin Mayor Kirk Watson was declared the apparent winner in the Austin mayoral race.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Second-place candidate Carmen Llanes Pulido says she's officially filed a petition to request a recount in the Austin mayoral race in 11 Travis County precincts and Williamson County.

"Given the razor thin margin, and the number of irregularities in this election cycle, it's critical that we ensure every vote is counted and I owe it to all of my supporters and all of the voters in the city of Austin, especially the near 50% that voted for new leadership to ensure that every vote is counted and our process is as fair and transparent as it can be," Llanes Pulido said.

Mayor Kirk Watson secured more than 50% of the overall vote in the general election -- though barely, less than 20 votes above the threshold for avoiding a runoff. Should the recount produce the same results, Watson will still be the outright winner in that race. KXAN has reached out to the mayor's campaign staff for a comment and will update this story when we hear back.

Should the partial recount find Watson did not secure more than 50% of the overall vote, it would force him into a runoff with Llanes Pulido. That would mean Austin voters would go back to the polls in December to vote between the two candidates.

Llanes Pulido said there "could be next steps to this and I am still gathering all the information and appropriate legal counsel to move forward in a way that makes best use of Austinites resources and energy in our quest for more accountable leadership."

The recount request is a move St. Edward's political science professor Brian Smith says will be expensive, time consuming and Llanes Pulido will be at a significant disadvantage if the recount results in a runoff election.

"It's not like Mayor Watson was the first of four candidates. No, he was the first of first. He was very close to that 50% -- he's actually a little bit over it," Smith said. "So she would have a lot of ground to gain."

KXAN told you a little more than a month ago that Llanes Pulido’s 30-day campaign finance report showed she only had roughly $5,000 on hand going into the final month of the general election.

State law requires Llanes Pulido to put down a deposit to request a recount. If the outcome of the election doesn’t change, she will be on the hook for the full cost.

As for what exactly that will cost, a spokesperson for the Travis County Clerk’s Office told KXAN earlier this week: “We have no responsive information at the moment.”

"When you look at her cash reserves, she has very little money to spend. So going to a runoff through a recount would be a very expensive proposition, with not a lot of upside when we look at what she has politically tangible right now," Smith said.

What happens next?

A recount will be done only of the votes in the Austin mayoral race in the precincts Llanes Pulido identified, and that count "does not look at the manner in which voters were qualified to vote in person or by mail" nor does it "authorize the requalifying of voters," according to the Texas Secretary of State website on procedures to request and conduct a recount.

Once a recount petition is received, which in this case happened around midday Thursday, the recount coordinator has 48 hours to review it and notify Llanes Pulido of any issues. Once that petition is approved, a recount would have to happen within seven days, or the day after all ballots get delivered to the "general custodian of election records."

Both Llanes Pulido and Watson's elections teams are required to be notified of the time and date of the recount. KXAN will continue to monitor when that recount will happen, and the results of that recount, and keep you posted.