LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office has yet to count 3,766 votes, including 537 provisional ballots, votes that could change the outcome of the district attorney race.
Incumbent Jon Hopkins sits 205 votes behind challenger Doug Rhoades, Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said Friday.
Rhoades has 625 fewer votes than Don Anderson. In the primaries, unless one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes, the top two have a runoff in the Nov. 2 election.
“Hopkins was No. 2 with the vote-by-mail ballots and moved to No. 3 with precincts,” Fridley said. “We don”t declare anyone elected until we count all the ballots and certify.”
Though the tally with all 53 voting precincts reporting showed Hopkins would be bumped out of the race, the uncounted votes could change that.
The remaining votes include a number of vote-by-mail ballots, those processed on the electronic equipment and provisional ballots, Fridley said. The office won”t count provisional ballots for unregistered residents but will process those of voters who moved without re-registering.
The Registrar of Voters Office has 28 days from the election, until July 6, to certify the results and submit them to the Board of Supervisors.
Fridley said she doesn”t expect the sheriff race to change because challenger Jack Baxter is 844 votes behind Sheriff Rod Mitchell. Deputy Francisco Rivero leads the race 445 votes ahead of Mitchell.
“Throughout the night, Rivero was No. 1 and Mitchell was No. 2,” Fridley said. “I don”t think that”s going to change.”
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
