Representatives from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office will descend on Freeborn County next week to hand-count votes in the Senate District 27 race.

The counting will happen Friday at the Freeborn County Courthouse after ballots are counted in Fillmore and Mower counties Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

The recount was ordered after the razor-thin margin of victory by DFL candidate Dan Sparks, of Austin. Election results, which will be certified Tuesday, are expected to show Sparks edged Republican incumbent Grace Schwab, of Albert Lea, by less than three dozen votes out of nearly 33,000 total votes cast in the race.

The latest tally, according to the Secretary of State’s Web site, shows Sparks with 15,020 votes (45.55 percent) and Schwab with 14,987 votes (45.45 percent). Independence party candidate Terry Kelley received 2,950 votes (8.95 percent).