A day after the spaceport tax election in Doña Ana County, elections workers were double checking unofficial results and beginning the process of sorting through provisional ballots.
County officials didn’t release any new numbers today. The last numbers reported give spaceport tax supporters a 204-vote, 1.2-percent lead – 8,781 votes to 8,577 – with 541 provisional ballots to be considered.
County spokesman Jess Williams said no new information would be released until the commission convened as the canvassing board Thursday morning.
One question that remained Tuesday night related to the polling place at Booker T. Washington Elementary in
Elections Supervisor Lynn Ellins had said moments earlier that officials were waiting only for results from a polling place in Chamberino where a cartridge was left behind and had to be retrieved. Tax supporters asked a lot of questions about the situation Tuesday night and today, saying the Chamberino and Booker T. Washington votes, which apparently both came in just before 11 p.m., changed the results significantly.
Williams said officials are carefully reviewing the unofficial results.
“Obviously, we care about the integrity of the numbers, and if they change we want to be sure we can explain exactly how and why they changed,” Williams said. “At this point, it doesn’t look like it would affect the outcome of the unofficial results.”
The number of provisional ballots that will be counted likely dropped from 541 today. Staffers can’t begin counting provisionals until the commission convenes as the canvassing board, but they spent today checking the names on the ballots to eliminate those that aren’t from registered voters.
The commission meets at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Doña Ana County Government Center in