GEORGETOWN, DE – Delaware’s 36th District Representative, Bryan Shupe, has confirmed his victory in the Republican Primary after an audit of the election results.
The audit was conducted due to the slim 12-vote margin separating Shupe from his challenger, Patrick Smith, prompting calls for closer examination.
Earlier this month, Smith announced he would seek a full review of both physical and absentee ballots, even though the Delaware Department of Elections stated there would be no recount.
Shupe explained that he discovered an audit could only be initiated by a current legislator and made the request.
The audit, which took place on Friday, September 27, confirmed 81 absentee votes for Shupe and 33 for Smith. With the results verified, Shupe’s narrow 12-vote lead is now officially recorded on the Delaware Department of Elections website.
“Thank you to the Department of Elections for their transparency and for allowing both myself and a representative from my opponent’s team to review the ballots, Shupe said in a statement on Monday.
It was also confirmed that all ballots arrived before the 8 p.m. deadline on election day and were included in the public tally posted at 11:31 p.m. that night.
According to Shupe, Smith did not attend the audit.
Shupe will now move on to face Democrat Rony J. Baltazar-Lopez in the general election for the 36th District state representative seat on November 5.
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