Though he asked for a recount, defeated Walker County commissioner candidate Paul Shaw could not legally receive one.

“We filed the necessary paper for a recount within the deadline in case there was a chance we were due a recount,” Shaw posted on Facebook Thursday morning. “Provisional votes were accounted for except one, so legally we aren’t due a recount. It was greater than the 1% difference of total votes cast pursuant to Georgia election codes. With a heavy heart, I’ve agreed to accept the votes as counted.”

To meet qualifications for a recount, there has to be a one percent or less difference in the spread of the votes between two candidates. In this race, incumbent Commissioner Bebe Heiskell took 5,326 votes in Tuesday’s election; Shaw totaled 5115. The 211-vote difference between the two candidates represents a spread of 2.02 percent, which is outside the legal limits for a recount.

The Walker County elections board did meet Thursday morning to open two of the three remaining provision ballots – both new votes were for Heiskell, edging her lead forward by two more votes. The third and final provisional ballot, the last ballot which has not yet been counted by the elections board, will be opened Friday should the voter appear with proper identification.

“There’s just one outstanding, and that person has just until tomorrow evening,” said Chuck Fletcher of the elections office.