A Jordan Board of Education incumbent on Wednesday planned to ask for a recount after final elections results showed her losing by just 12 votes.

"This has been something I've felt passionate about for the last four years," board member Lynette Phillips said of her tenure. "I don't want to give up this easily."

Phillips garnered 3,932 votes, or 49.76 percent of the total cast, according to elections results finalized Tuesday by the Board of Canvassers.

That's just 12 behind challenger Tracy Scott Cowdell, who received 3,944 votes, or 49.91 percent of the total, according to the Salt Lake County Clerk's Web site.

Those results include absentee and provisional ballots.

Preliminary election night returns had Cowdell winning by a single vote.

Cowdell doesn't begrudge Phillips' request. "If I were in her position, I'd do the same thing."

Still, he said he will proceed as a board member-elect.

"As far as I'm concerned, results are official, and I'm planning on being on the school board, and I'm going to make preparations to serve on the school board," Cowdell said.

Defeated candidates have up to seven days to submit a written request for a recount. Three in Salt Lake County are eligible because they lost by fewer than one vote per precinct. The other two are Jay Seegmiller, who lost to House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, by 19 votes; and Laura Black, who lost to Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, by 18 votes.

A recount would probably take at least a full day; a subsequent audit of the paper trail of likely 5 percent of memory cards (depending on population) will probably take a couple of days, County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said. Recounts, if requests come in quickly, probably will start early next week; results will be presented to the Board of Canvassers.

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