The Butler County Election’s Bureau will be closed Wednesday, so the staff can focus its full attention to recounting local ballots cast toward the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat.

Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Leigh Chapman signed the order of recount Thursday for the Republican primary Senate race

The automatic process launches when a race is decided by less than one-half percent or less of the total votes cast for that office.

Dr. Mehmet Oz led David McCormick by 902 votes, or 0.07 percentage points, out of 1,343,643 ballots reported by the state as of Wednesday.

Butler County staff will begin recounting those ballots cast at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the juvenile courtroom of the Butler County Courthouse.

“We anticipate one full day of counting. Possibly, it may bleed into Thursday,” said Butler County solicitor Wil White, who is overseeing the election bureau in the absence of a director. “Our goal is to have it completed and results reported by Friday, which is before the mandate.”

According to the order, the recount could have begun as early as Friday, May 27, and it had to be started by June 1; however its deadline for completion is June 7.

White said closing the bureau’s office will allow them to use only its well-trained staff and avoid hiring temporary workers, which should allow them to finish well ahead of the deadline.

White said they used the same approach in the recount from the November election and found it helpful.

“We’ll have all hands on deck,” White said. “It’s a little bit easier when you knew it was coming, so we’re prepared for it.”

The courtroom where the recount is taking place is the standard area the bureau conducts counting, and as always, it will be open to the public.

White said though it is a public function, seating is limited. He said some seats are mandatory reservations for party and candidate representatives, and the remaining seats will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

While the courtroom’s security cameras will be watching over the voting process, the public is barred from using any type of video or audio recording, be it cell phone or otherwise while in the courtroom.

“The answer is absolutely no,” White said.