PORT ANGELES —
After a third round of ballot counting today (Monday), incumbent John Calhoun now leads Brad Collins — by a scant 9 votes — in the seesaw race for the Position 3 seat on the three-member Port of Port Angeles board of commissioners.
Brooke Nelson, Larry Little and Patrick Downie are headed for seats on the Port Angeles City Council.
The Max Mania-Edna Petersen race for the PA council remains too close to call.
The Calhoun-Collins port race could go to a mandatory recount. (See information below.)
After counting 1,956 ballots today — including a surge of last-minute mail-in ballots from the West End — Calhoun, 65, who lives in Forks, now has a whisker-thin lead of 9 votes — 9,232 votes (50.02 percent) for Calhoun to Collins’ 9,223 (49.98 percent).
Calhoun held a 48-vote lead Tuesday night, when 12,374 ballots were counted.
Collins, 61, who lives in Port Angeles, was ahead of Calhoun by 196 votes after Friday’s second round of vote counting.
Most of the ballots counted today came from the West End and the Sequim area. Countywide voter turnout was 55.8 percent.
About 75 ballots, 15 of them from Port Angeles, remain to be counted. They will be counted at noon tomorrow (Tuesday).
In addition, 40 ballots that arrived without signatures have been returned to voters. Another 119 ballots had signatures that did not match those on file. The 159 errant voters — who are countywide — have until 11 a.m. Nov. 23 to fix and return their ballots.
Also, ballots cast by Clallam County residents in the military are still dribbling in. Military ballots must arrive by Nov. 24, when the election will be closed and certified.
Max Mania now leads Edna Petersen by 32 votes for Port Angeles City Council Position 2.
Today’s count gave Mania a total of 2,713 votes (50.3 percent) to Petersen’s 2,681 (49.7 percent).
Mania, 41, a grocery clerk and writer, was trailing Petersen, 69, owner of Necessities and Temptations gift shop, by 11 votes in ballot counting Tuesday night. He took a 31-vote lead after Friday’s count.
In other Port Angeles races, Brooke Nelson, 37, a real estate agent, had a small but unbeatable lead over incumbent Betsy Wharton, 49, who serves as the city’s deputy mayor.
After being ahead by 13 votes Tuesday, Nelson increased her lead to 119 votes on Friday and kept that 119-lead today for City Council Position 4 — Nelson, 2,737 (51.1 percent) to Wharton’s 2,618 (48.9 percent).
In the other races, Larry Little beat Cody Blevins for City Council Position 1.
Little’s total today (Monday) was 2,727 (53.3 percent) to Blevins’ 2,389 (46.7 percent). Blevins conceded on Friday.
Patrick Downie secured a victory over Harry Bell for City Council Position 3 after Tuesday’s vote count and now leads by 370 votes.
As of today (Monday), Downie has 2,594 (53.8 percent) to Bell’s 2,224 (46.2 percent).
Ted Miller, a retired CIA analyst and attorney, unseated longtime Sequim City Council member and former mayor Walt Schubert after Tuesday’s vote count.
Schubert increased his margin today slightly against Miller, but Miller was still ahead by 646 votes.
Schubert had 807 votes (35.7 percent) and 1,453 votes for Miller (64.3 percent).
There were no other substantial changes in the other election races.
RECOUNT INFORMATION
Any race that ends with less than a half of a percentage-point difference goes to an automatic machine recount.
A race that ends with one candidate leading by a quarter of a percentage point or less goes to an automatic hand recount, said David Ammons, spokesman for the state Secretary of State
The Calhoun-Collins race for the six-year seat on the three-member port commission is the only race in Clallam County that may be decided by less than a half of a percentage point.
A hand recount for port commissioner — the only county-wide race on the general election ballot — would take two or three days, county Auditor Patty Rosand said.
A candidate trailing by more than a half of a percentage point can ask for a recount, but he or she would have to pay for it. The cost is 25 cents a ballot for a hand-recount and 15 cents a ballot for a machine recount, Rosand said.
If the results of the election change, the amount of the ballot recount is refunded.
It is uncommon for a candidate to pay for a recount, Rosand said.
Click on http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/CLALLAM/ELECTIONS/Pages/ElectionResults.aspx for full election results as of today (Monday).
In-depth coverage of the results of today’s vote count — with the prospect for at least one recount and reaction from the candidates — will be in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News and at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
