67 votes separate potential win in Arizona Dems CD 3 race, likely headed for a recount

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Maricopa County says it’s counted about 99 percent of the roughly 740,000 ballots cast in Tuesday’s primary election, with 2,100 ballots left to tabulate and verify as of Saturday night.

In an election, every vote can matter. In the Congressional District 3 Democratic primary, which includes most of west Phoenix, only 67 votes separate Yassamin Ansari and Raquel Terán, with nearly 44,000 ballots counted.

“In Arizona right now, both in the primary and in the general election everything is very close. The parties and the campaigns are organized to try and get out every vote they can. And the reason they’re doing that is because those margins are so tight and because they recognize that every vote counts,” said Arizona Clean Elections Commission Executive Director Tom Collins.

In Arizona, a recount is automatically triggered when the top two candidates in a race are within .5% of each other. At Maricopa County, election officials are prepared if any officially go to a recount.

“We have several that are close in Maricopa County. We’re keeping an eye on those and making sure that we are able to do the full recount should it become necessary,” said Jennifer Liewer with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

If a recount happens, Collins says the tabulation equipment is tested, and the ballots are again run through the machines.

“There’s always going to be lawyers involved, but the actual procedures at the county level are very straightforward and rely on the very same processes that were used to count the ballots in the first place,” he explained.

In the meantime, Collins says candidates in close races are still trying to get every last vote for them verified and counted.

“They’ve been out working, reaching out to voters to cure the ballots if they had a signature missing or a signature mismatch, those kinds of things, so that’s what the campaigns have been doing,” he said.

The deadline to issue Letters of Nomination and Certificates of Election and deliver canvasses to the Secretary of State is Aug. 12.

Both candidates sent out statements on Saturday.

“From the very beginning of this campaign, our diverse, progressive team has defied the odds in our fight for a better future. After the last round of vote tabulation, we have maintained our lead in this race. “

“That is a true testament to a dedicated team and the incredible volunteers that knocked over 165,000 doors and made tens of thousands of calls to voters across the district. We took our positive message of progressive results directly to voters and I could not be more proud.”

“We are still hard at work ensuring that every vote is counted. Thank you to the thousands of voters who made their voices heard in this election. Together, we will continue to deliver progressive results. Our work has just begun. ”

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