CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin won a seventh term after a final canvass of last week's vote on Wednesday, but Democratic challenger Gary Trauner was holding out the possibility of seeking a recount.

"I haven't decided," Trauner said in a telephone interview from his home in Wilson. "I got 48 hours to make a decision."

Under state law Trauner must ask for a recount no later than Friday. The recount would be conducted in all 23 counties, and Trauner would have to pay up to $500 per county for the cost of the recount. He would not be liable for the costs if the recount found "sufficient error to change the result of the election."

The State Canvassing Board, made up of four of Wyoming's top elected officials, certified the results Wednesday. While the race remained very close, it fell 79 votes short of triggering an automatic recount, Secretary of State Joe Meyer said.

Cubin received 93,336 votes, or 48.3 percent, while Trauner got 92,324 votes, or 47.8 percent. Libertarian Thomas Rankin got 7,481, or 3.8 percent.

The canvassing board declined Trauner's request that it undertake an investigation before certifying the results. In a letter dated Wednesday, Trauner asked the board to look into two main concerns.

Trauner said his campaign had received calls from some voters concerned about whether their votes were counted, "because they worried they may not have properly marked the ballot."

Trauner noted that more than 2,700 people who cast ballots didn't vote in the congressional race. He noted that number of votes would be more than enough to affect the outcome of the election.

Trauner also questioned the voting results from Sheridan County, in which Cubin logged 5,883, compared to 5,255 for Trauner.

Cubin's percentage drop in support in Sheridan County from the 2004 election was much smaller than in any other county in the state, he said. In addition, the vote spread between Cubin and her 2004 opponent and between her and Trauner declined much less in Sheridan County than in any other county, he said.

Trauner stated that the result in Sheridan County "stands out as a clear outlier and statistical anomaly to these trends."

Meyer, a member of the canvassing board, said there was nothing to indicate any problems with results from Sheridan County. He said he suspected that there are unsuccessful Republican candidates around the country who are also puzzled by results from the Nov. 7 election.

Meyer also said Wyoming law is clear that there's no way to count ballots by hand in cases in which voters might have mistakenly voted for another candidate on a voting machine.

After the board certified the results, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Trauner failed to present any sufficient reason for the board not to certify the results.

"It just didn't meet the statutory threshold for us to act on them," Freudenthal said.