The Anniston City Council today approved the cost and process for a recount of votes cast in city elections last month.

Three people requested recounts of election results. Councilman Ben Little and resident Harold Ray requested a recount of ballots cast in Ward 3, where Little lost re-election to the City Council to Seyram Selase. In the results certified by the council last week, Selase had 517 votes to Little’s 308.

Ralph Bradford, a candidate for mayor who received 1.61 percent of the vote, requested a recount of the ballots cast in that race – about 5,000 in all.

Little did not attend the meeting. The other four council members unanimously approved the projected $3,850 cost of each recount. That total includes:

• $2,500 to hire attorney Rick Bearden of Birmingham-based firm Massey & Stotser.
  
  
• $750 to rent a machine to count the ballots.
  
  
• $600 to hire two election officials to oversee the recount.
  
  

The $3,850 cost would apply to each recount, said Alan Atkinson, Anniston’s City Clerk.

Those requesting the recounts have until Thursday at 4 p.m. to provide security, such as a cashier’s check, to cover the cost of the recount. If the recount changes the result of the election, the city will pay the costs, Atkinson said.