Ann Arbor City Councilman Leigh Greden filed for a recount this afternoon of all 3rd Ward ballots cast in last Tuesday's Democratic primary election.

Greden, D-3rd Ward, is hoping to pick up six or more votes after losing to challenger Stephen Kunselman, 511-505. LuAnne Bullington received 381 votes.

“My supporters are urging me to request a recount because of the very close margin,” Greden said. “I owe it to them to pursue this. We learned from last year's recount, which a candidate requested even though there was a much larger margin, that the final vote count can change, although not by many votes.”

There were 1,415 ballots cast in the 3rd Ward, but only 1,411 votes were counted, according to official election results. That leaves some wondering whether four ballots were left blank, or if there were votes on those ballots that were not counted by the electronic tabulators.

Even if all four ballots turn out in Greden's favor, he still would need another two votes to tie Kunselman. According to County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum, that likely won't happen.

“It's unlikely that we're going to see any change,” he said. “Whoever has the most votes to begin with is the one likely to prevail. Typically what you see in a recount is candidates won't lose votes, they'll gain votes. The votes they got to begin with, they're unlikely to lose.”

Kestenbaum said he doesn't blame Greden for requesting a recount. He said six votes is a pretty narrow margin to lose by, and it's worth double checking.

“It's a little bit extra trouble for us but it's not that big of a deal,” he said.

Kestenbaum said he's tentatively looking at Aug. 27 as the date for the recount. He said it should be done in one day.

Overseeing the recount will be the four members of the county's Board of Canvassers, which includes two Democratic representatives and two Republicans. The two Democrats are Ully Roth and Weston Vivian; the two Republicans are Melody Gable and Kim Porter-Hoppe.

The recount will be conducted in the meeting room in the basement of the county offices at 200 N. Main St. in downtown Ann Arbor. Kestenbaum said election inspectors will be counting ballots by hand and separating them into piles for each candidate.

Because Michigan is not a voter-intent state, a ballot must be properly filled out with a written mark inside the correct oval for it to count. Votes will be thrown out if, for example, the oval next to a candidate's name was circled or a check mark was made next to a candidate's name.

Greden paid $60 for the recount, $10 per consolidated precinct.

Ryan Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2529 or ryanstanton@annarbor.com.