Stop the machine that's counting ballots.

Matt Keating won the Republican primary for the Natrona County Assessor after all.

A recount was not needed in that primary race between Keating and incumbent Tammy Saulsbury, Natrona County Clerk Renea Vitto said Thursday afternoon.

The unofficial results showed Matt Keating received 6,517, or 45.54 percent, of ballots cast, and Saulsbury received 6,401, or 44.73 percent, of ballots cast.

That was a difference of 116 votes.

That was less than 1 percent of the total votes cast, which Vitto said Wednesday mandated a recount.

So Thursday morning her staff started the ballot counting machine on the second floor of the Old Courthouse and began feeding the 14,309 primary ballots cast by Republicans.

About an hour into the recount, Vitto received a call from the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office about whether Saulsbury had requested the recount. Vitto said she hadn't because of the less than 1 percent margin.

The Secretary of State's Office asked Vitto to reconsider.

Vitto met with Natrona County Attorney Eric Easton, and took a look at the state law about recounts.

As it turns out, the 116-vote difference wasn't about the total votes cast but whether that number was less than 1 percent of the 6,517 votes cast for Keating.

That percentage was about 1.8 percent.

Vitto said she spoke with Keating and Saulsbury who were at the office, and they agreed to stop the recount.

Friday, the county's canvassing board -- the clerk and two electors of different political parties -- will meet to certify the ballots, which will then be sent to the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office in Cheyenne.

The state canvassing board -- Gov. Matt Mead, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, State Treasurer Mark Gordon -- will meet Tuesday to certify the ballots for the official results.

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