On Tuesday, Freman Hendrix asked for a recount of the ballots cast in Detroit’s November 8 mayoral race and it appears he is going to get it: Wayne County judge Mary Beth Kelly ordered the Michigan Secretary of State’s office to hold the ballots in a locked vault until a hand recount can be conducted.

Hendrix, who lost the election by more than 14,000 votes to incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick, says an official hand count will help alleviate discrepanices that still abound, such as problems with voting machines, suspected vote tampering and the late-counting of 3,000 ballots that a Free Press investigation uncovered as “missing”.

Hendrix’s request came the same day the city Board of Canvassers announced its official tally results for the race, which certified that Kilpatrick was, indeed, the winner.

According to this article in yesterday’s Free Press, though, Department of Elections rooms – where the ballots were held during the Board’s meeting to certify the election – were left open and unguarded.

The recount will cost Detroit taxpayers somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000.

It is not yet clear whether Kwame Kilpatrick will challenge Hendrix’s request.