PICKENS — The atmosphere in Pickens County Council Chambers changed on June 27 as election workers gathered to start an official recount for the District 5 Council seat.
The election board called for a recount after the addition of three provisional ballots did not change the close race between County Council Chairman Chris Bowers and his competitor, Brandon Thomas. The margin tightened to just 13 votes, down from an unofficial difference of 14 votes on election night.
Fifteen poll workers painstakingly rescanned a total of 5,550 paper ballots from 12 precincts in District 5, including early, failsafe, provisional, and absentee ballots.
After the recount, the results confirmed that Bowers would retain his seat for another four years, as the numbers were exactly the same as before.
“The whole process of watching the ballots go through the machines is nerve-wracking,” Bowers shared following the recount confirmation. “However, it’s reassuring to see that the numbers matched perfectly. This should help restore confidence in our election system. Every vote matters, and I’m honored to continue serving the residents of Easley and Pickens County.”
A recount became necessary due to the less than 1 percent difference in votes between Bowers and Thomas. Bowers and Thomas had previously entered a runoff after the June 11 primary, as no candidate received the required 50 percent of the total votes. In that runoff, Bowers secured 50.25 percent, while Thomas received 49.75 percent. In the earlier primary, Bowers had 47 percent and Thomas had 34 percent.
Bowers is now the second incumbent to successfully defend his seat this election cycle, which has seen four of the six County Council seats contested. Notably, none of these seats have a Democratic opponent on the November ballot.
