Yamhill: Mary Starrett takes four-vote lead; recount is next

Kari Chisholm

Late Friday, the Yamhill County Clerk released the final unofficial ballot count in the county commission race between progressive incumbent Mary Stern and lunatic fringe challenger Mary Starrett.

We had been waiting for the 60 ballots that had challenged signatures to be validated. 17 voters came in and successfully provided their ID and had their votes counted.

The final 17 ballots broke this way - 12 for Starrett and 5 for Stern. That's a swing of 7 votes that leaves the final unofficial count: Starrett 10892, Stern 10888, Write-in 50. That's 49.89% to 49.88%, so if that outcome stands, we're headed for a fall runoff - despite the two-candidate race in the primary.

But first, there's going to be a recount sometime in mid-June. (Again, all recounts are done by hand by a nonpartisan board of election workers, observed by representatives of both campaigns.)

Stay tuned.

Speaking of close votes, by the way, the Friday afternoon numbers on the race between Susan Castillo and Ron Maurer continue indicate what we've known for a while -- Castillo pulled it out, just barely. She's at 50.04% of the vote, and he's at 49.64%. That's close but would be a no-recount, no-runoff outcome once it becomes official on June 7.

By Kari Chisholm May 29, 2010