A manual recount in Wagoner County did not change the results of the sheriff's race, meaning Sheriff Chris Elliott will officially serve a third term.

He won the primary runoff and does not have a challenger in the general election. 

Several precinct officials spent nearly 7 hours counting thousands of ballots by hand to confirm the Wagoner County sheriff's race votes from last Tuesday.

The county has now officially certified Elliott as the winner. 

Related: ‘We Didn’t Predict This’: Close Race For Wagoner County Sheriff

The race was extremely close, with Sheriff Elliott winning by just 35 votes against Tyler Cooper. Elliott has been the sheriff since 2016. Cooper requested a recount, and the county election board trained and got everything ready for the day. 

The day began with a Wagoner County judge ruling that the ballots had been properly stored and locked away before the recount began. More than a dozen election precinct officials counted each vote by hand, while others served as watchers to ensure they were counted fairly.

The sheriff said he is proud of his accomplishments as sheriff so far, with the crime rate going down and offering a law enforcement pension, and he wants to continue the momentum. 

“What I’ve seen and what I’m so impressed with is the security of the Oklahoma elections,” said Sheriff Chris Elliott. “This is an election contested on a recount. Our machines, the way we do things, reflects we do it well. Oklahoma should be a beacon to look at how we do things. Over 8,000 votes were cast. Not one error.”

Tyler Cooper was not in the room, and we have not been able to reach him to request a comment.