Elections officials in Doña Ana County announced revised unofficial results from the spaceport tax election this morning that have tax supporters ahead by 173 votes, or 1 percent, with 571 provisional ballots to consider.
The unofficial count now has 8,703 votes, or 50.5 percent, in favor of enacting the tax and 8,530 votes, or 49.5 percent, opposed, officials announced at this morning’s county commission meeting.
The new numbers, announced this morning, come after elections officials spent Thursday performing three hand counts and a computer recount. They do not include any provisional ballots.
The previous unofficial results gave spaceport tax supporters a 204-vote, 1.2-percent lead – 8,781 votes to 8,577 – with 541 provisional ballots to be considered. The new numbers, and the fact that the number of provisional ballots has increased, give opponents a greater chance of gaining the votes needed to defeat the tax, but their chances are still slim.
Elections officials also began this morning considering the provisional ballots. They’ve already gone through 17 precincts and have eliminated one ballot. Of the other 30 they accepted, 16 have been in favor of the tax and 14 have opposed it, said John Hummer, a co-chair of People for Aerospace.
Hummer is an official watcher of the count.
I’ll have updated totals and more information on what’s happening throughout the day as provisional ballots are counted.