Over a million ballots in play could still sway key races
Nov 7, 2012, 12:51 PM | Updated: 4:03 pm
Debi Hertel, left, and Shaw Dixon, right, review ballots at King County's ballot processing facility Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Renton, Wash. Election officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of votes were left to count on Wednesday, including those in the very close Governor's race between Democrat Jay Inslee and Republican Rob McKenna. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
More than a million ballots are left to be counted in Washington meaning the fortunes of candidates and initiative supporters could change as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Secretary of State Sam Reed estimates 1.2 million ballots still need to be counted. Those votes could easily turn the race for governor and the initiative for charter schools.
“That is a huge number of ballots left to be counted,” said Reed. “So if there is just a few percentage points between candidates or issues you just can’t call [the races.]”
The next batch of numbers will be released Wednesday at about 4:00 pm. The King County Elections Office says it’ll release its next batch at 6:30 pm.
Reed said some of the tightest races may not be decided until Friday or later.
While the call on Initiative 502 approved the legalization of marijuana, other races are still too tight to officially call. Supporters of Referendum 74 who hope to legalize same-sex marriage officially say they have won. Though, their opponents have said they won’t be ready to concede until all the ballots are counted.
KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan contributed to this report.
