Democrat Pat Patterson has formally requested an election recount in his bid to become Roanoke County's Vinton representative on the board of supervisors.

Mike Altizer, the Republican incumbent, was certified the winner of last week's election by just 16 votes of 5,011 cast. Altizer received 2,509, Patterson 2,493, and there were nine write-ins based on the total certified by the county electoral board.

Patterson said Wednesday he had spent last weekend thinking and praying about the decision. The margin of victory was so slim -- 0.3 percent -- that state law allows the loser to seek a recount at taxpayer expense.

Patterson said he felt he owed it to those who voted for him, many of whom asked him to request the recount, and he filed papers in Roanoke County Circuit Court late Tuesday to start the process.

"I think it's the right thing to do," he said, "to make sure that all the votes that were cast were ... recorded accurately and appropriately."

He said that had the tables been turned, he would have hoped Altizer would have made a similar request.

Altizer predicted there would be a recount on election night.

"I expected it," he reiterated Wednesday. "Anytime there's an election and a race is this close, the state code affords an opportunity to take another look. Patrick deserves to do what he's allowed to do."

At the same time, Altizer said, "I do believe the numbers will hold."

The registrar's and court clerk's offices were closed Wednesday for the Veterans Day holiday, but Patterson said he understood that his request will be reviewed by a three-judge panel that will determine how to undertake the recount.

Tuesday, Registrar Judy Stokes said it has been so long since a recount had been requested in the county that her office and the county attorney were having to research the procedures they'll have to follow.

The last recount in Roanoke County was in 1994, when Windsor Hills school board candidate Lisa Merrill asked that the ballots be recounted in her 20-vote loss to Tom Leggette.

The recount, which wasn't completed until Dec. 2, actually resulted in Leggette being awarded two additional votes of the almost 6,000 cast and the results stood.

Patterson said he was given no timeline for the process when he filed his papers.