GOP's Hamadeh calls to inspect all ballots after recount narrows opponent's lead

Arizona Republican attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh called on Thursday for the inspection of all ballots in the very close statewide race after a recount saw his opponent's lead narrow by nearly half.

Democratic candidate Kris Mayes emerged ahead of Hamadeh by 511 votes in the original tally, which subsequently dropped to a mere 280 following the recount. Hamadeh contends that such a discrepancy warrants further review of the contest.

"This is a battle fighting for the transparency of Arizona elections and we continue to uncover significant issues within our flawed systems including over 4000 provisional ballots that remain uncounted. Transparent elections are fundamental to a democracy," he said in a statement.

"A discrepancy this big in the recount calls for an inspection of all of the ballots," he continued. "We will continue to fight this and owe it to the voters in Arizona to look at this from every single angle until we restore trust in our election system."

In what has become the state's closest contest in history, Mayes stands 0.01% ahead out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast. Hamadeh has contended that errors in the populous Maricopa County turned away voters and may have cost him the race.