PORT TOWNSEND – Another count of 25 more Nov. 6 general election ballots Friday left the Jefferson County Fire Protection District 1 commissioner race still in doubt, hanging on the votes in challenged ballots that remain uncounted.
Zane Wyll still has an 11-vote lead over Pete Langley after each candidate received three votes in a count of outstanding ballots on Friday.
“As you can see, nothing changed,” said Donna Eldridge, county auditor.
Following the fourth vote count Friday, Wyll has a total of 1,890 votes, or 49.97 percent, to Langley’s 1,879 votes, or 49.68 percent.
The results could be headed for a mandatory recount, said Eldridge, but nothing is certain until Nov. 27 when the election will be certified.
Mandatory recounts are required by state law if the difference between the two candidates is less than ½ of 1 percent and less than 2000 votes.
The margin now stands at .25 percent.
The election’s outcome hangs on the votes in 17 challenged ballots, which include voters in the fire protection district, hat remain uncountable because they have either no signature or questionable signatures, Eldridge said.
The auditor said her elections division would attempt to rectify those ballots by contacting the affected voters on Tuesday, advising them that they have until 5 p.m. Nov. 27, certification day, to make good on their ballots.
