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Republicans finished the paperwork late Tuesday afternoon, one day before the deadline. A Chester County judge now must decide if a recount should happen.
Lawrence J. Tabas, an attorney for the Republican Party, said Republicans want a recount of the paper ballots and a recanvasing of the optical scanning machines.
"We want to make sure that at the end of the day, this has been a thorough and complete count," he said.
If the judge decides a recount should happen, he or she will have to decide if the recount should be done by hand, by machine or both.
Tabas said it is unclear how long the process could take.
"The last one I did that was all hand-counted took four solid days, but it was only 6,200 votes," he said. "Every county is different, and it depends on the process."
About 23,000 votes were cast in the 156th District.
Tabas added the Republicans have asked for all precincts to be counted in the district.
"We absolutely believe it is worth doing the recount," he said. "It is not certain who won the race yet."
While Republicans were busy filing the paperwork for the recount, the state House Democratic Caucus nominated Democratic Minority Leader Bill DeWeese for the top spot on Tuesday.
"We're continuing forward with plans for the next session as the majority party," said Bill Patton, a spokesperson for the PA House Democratic Campaign Committee.
Patton also said that Democrats are confident McIlvaine Smith will remain the winner after the recount.
"We have compared the 156th District to other districts in Chester County. We have also looked at everything precinct by precinct in Chester County," he said. "Everything looks good and solid."
When asked whether Democrats would rather have the ballots recounted by hand or machine, Patton said that is up for a judge to decide.
McIlvaine Smith was in Harrisburg on Monday and Tuesday for an orientation session. She also had dinner with DeWeese and other incoming Democratic state legislators on Monday night.
She could not be reached for comment.
Royer, meanwhile, has returned to work as a coordinator for the Republican House staff.
"I'm trying to get things back to normal. I've been on the campaign trail since January," he said. "None of us thought the race would blow over until December."
He also said the recount is important because this is the first year the county has used optical scanning machines, and he said there are about 275 under votes, meaning that voters did not make a selection for the 156th District race, but voted in other races.
"It is an unusually high number as far as we're concerned. We want to take a look at it," he said.
Royer came away from Election Day having a 19-vote lead over McIlvaine Smith, but she pulled ahead after absentee ballots that were mistakenly not counted on election night were counted last week.
The county has become a political focal point, since the race will determine which party controls the state House of Representatives.
The race is to replace state Rep. Elinor Z. Taylor, R-156th, of West Goshen, who is retiring.
To contact staff writer Brian Fanelli, send an e-mail to bfanelli@dailylocal.com.
