Unofficial election results are rolling in, but according to the Butte County Clerk-Recorder, official results won’t be released until next month.
Clerk-Recorder Keaton Denlay said that the county first counts mail-in-ballots before provisional, conditional and same day registration voting to avoid the possibility of someone voting twice.
“We need to make sure that other ballot’s not going to show up somewhere before we allow that voter what would technically be a second ballot in the election,” Denlay said. “We want to make sure we avoid that at all costs.”
Election officials started counting mail-in-ballots before polls closed Tuesday night. However, some ballots were postmarked on election day, which means the office can receive them until the following week.
Denlay said about 88,000 ballots have been verified as of Thursday. That number represents 72% of the county’s registered voters.
Races like Chico’s District 3 City Council seat appear to be tight, with Dale Bennett having only a roughly 40 vote lead on Monica McDaniel. However, Denlay said that it’s too early in the ballot counting process to call any race.
“When you look at these local races, your school board, city councils, and they're decided by 28 votes, 30 votes, those races might not be decided until we count every single ballot we have,” Denlay said. “Every single vote counts.”
The county is currently counting mail-in-ballots, which Denlay said they expect to finish up in the next few days. After that, they will count provisional, conditional and same day registration ballots.
By next week, officials will have an idea of how many ballots they have left. According to Denlay, the election will be certified with official results by early December.
