Final Election Results Expected Tuesday Evening

It's been nearly a month since the Nov. 6 presidential election and, finally, voters will get the official results for close races in Santa Cruz County.

County Clerk Gail Pellerin has until Dec. 4—that's Tuesday—to certify the official results.

That has meant counting thousands of provisional ballots.

In November, Pellerin reported:

We still have more than 8,800 provisional ballots to research and add to the count if they are qualified voters. Typically, around 85% of the provisional ballots cast are qualified and are counted or partially counted.

In addition to the provisional ballots, we have the audit of the polls to complete along with the manual recounts.

We will release our final vote count once all ballots have been counted and the vote has been certified.

Among the too-close-to-call races is the election of a new county Supervisor for the District 5 seat. Former California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and Boulder Creek Parks and Recreation District Board Member Eric Hammer are locked in a tight race for the position.

Early results showed McPherson had less than a 250 vote lead over Hammer—11,823 to 11,578 votes.

The election results must be certified by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

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