As it turns out, recounts weren’t as expensive as first thought.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office announced Monday that refunds will be issued for recounts paid for by Republican Secretary of State candidate Tina Peters and Senate District 9 GOP candidate Lynda Zamora Wilson.

Peters lost her primary bid to Pam Anderson by more than 14 percentage points. Under state law, a candidate can seek a state-paid recount only when the difference between the winning candidate and second-place candidate is 0.05% or less of the winning vote.

Candidates must pay for recounts when the difference between the two candidates exceeds that threshold.

Peters asked for a hand recount of the June 28 primary, which isn’t allowed under state law that dictates recounts must be done in the same manner as the original count. She was asked to pay $255,912.33 for the machine recount. That recount, which took place in all 64 counties, was conducted in August. Peters gained 13 votes. Anderson also gained 13 more votes; Mike O’Donnell of Yuma, who came in third, gained 11 votes.

Peters raised the money for the recount after appearing on a Steve Bannon podcast on July 25 that brought in more than $351,000 that day alone.

The actual cost of the recount, as tabulated by the 64 counties, was $111,370.05, so Peters campaign will get a refund of $137,283.28.

The Secretary of State’s office said it “plays no role in determining the cost estimate or final cost of the recount other than to combine the figures from all 64 counties.”

Peters’ TRACER account shows she still has unspent funds as of Oct. 12 of $178,333, not including the refund. In addition to the recount costs, she’s spent more than $82,000 on legal fees related to the recount.

State law limits what candidates can do with unspent funds. They can:

• Contribute to a political party, up to the limit set in state law;
• Contribute to a new committee established by the same candidate for a new office, also under certain limits;
• Donate to an IRS recognized charitable organization;
• Return to contributors; or
• Retain for use in a later campaign by the same candidate. 

Peters is going to trial in Mesa County District Court on March 6, 2023 on seven felony and three misdemeanor charges of tampering with Mesa County election equipment. She pled not guilty to all charges in September.

The recount of the Senate District 9 GOP primary for Wilson, in El Paso County, was originally estimated to cost $20,819.87. The actual cost was $5,760.92, meaning Wilson’s campaign will get a refund of $15,058.95.

Wilson lost by almost 30 percentage points to incumbent Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument.

The recount in El Paso County, conducted by the county clerk and recorder, found one more vote for Lundeen and no changes in the vote totals for Wilson. El Paso County had four recounts to handle; in addition to Wilson and Peters, they also did candidate-paid recounts in the GOP races for clerk and recorder and coroner.