FAULKNER COUNTY, Ark. — Election Day may be over and the voting machines put away, but the work isn't over yet— not until every last vote is counted.
"We go until after Election Day," said Laura Wiles, Election Coordinator for Faulkner County. "We do everything to get an election ready for voters in Faulkner County."
For Wiles, sometimes that's not the quickest process.
"I mean, with over 8,000 votes in that district, you don't really expect it to come down to just a handful," she explained.
Looking through results from Election Day, there were plenty of races that were pretty easily decided— until you get to House District 56.
"Gonna be a four-vote difference on Election Night," Wiles said. "After the provisional ballots, that's increased to 10."
Just 10 votes separate Democrat incumbent Steve Magie and Republican Trent Minner— 4,051 to 4,041.
Getting those results right is important, especially in a race this close.
"It doesn't matter if the margins, you know, 90% to 10%," Wiles said. "We're gonna count every single ballot that can be counted."
Some have called for more transparency in election result counting in recent years. While their process hasn't changed because of that, Wiles said that she's still encouraged by more people getting involved.
"We had a lot of people here watching the process, and so that was encouraging to me because it made people see how much work goes into it," she said. "What all is that process, and counting these ballots and making sure that every ballot does count."
That's always been the goal— your voice, your vote, and your ballot matter.
"I think the message is pretty clear in this race is that literally every vote counts," she said. "I mean, just a dozen more votes would have changed, could have changed the outcome of this race. Your vote does matter, it does count."