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PORT ANGELES – This election cycle in Clallam County is seeing two of the closest races in recent memory with the race for Position 6 on the Port Angeles City Council, which has Navarra Carr ahead of Nina Napiontek by just 7 votes.

In a race for Commissioner in Fire District 5 at Clallam Bay, Greg Bellamy leads Karin Ashton by only 3 votes.

The former will likely require an automatic recount, the latter probably will not.

How does that work? It all comes down to the number of votes cast in a race. In the case of the city council race, over 5000 votes have been counted, so the percentage between the candidates is so small that it automatically triggers a machine recount and will probably require a hand recount as well.

In the Fire District race, under 250 votes were cast, so the spread is actually much larger.

County Auditor Shoona Riggs, who dropped by the Todd Ortloff Show on Wednesday last week, says it illustrates how important every ballot is in local elections.

Those so-called “cure ballots” she refers to could easily decide both races. Those of you who had your ballots returned to you because of an issue with your signature have until November 25 to get them signed and returned. The election will be certified by the Auditor’s office the following day.

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