PORT ANGELES — A machine recount in the race between Ted Miller and Jerry Sinn for a District 1 seat on the Clallam County Charter Review Commission was about halfway done Thursday morning, and results are expected to be announced today, county Auditor Patty Rosand said.
The recount began Wednesday in the election center on the lower level of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
State law calls for a mandatory recount by machine if the difference between the apparent winner and next candidate is a difference of fewer than 2,000 votes and less than 0.5 percent.
The difference between Miller, who came in fifth, and Sinn, who came in sixth, in District 1 is 29 votes, or 0.43 percent.
Miller, 68, is a Sequim City Council member.
Sinn, 72, is chairman of the steering committee for FourC, or Concerned Citizens of Clallam County.
In the race for Charter Review Commission, five candidates are elected from each of the three county commissioner districts.
A machine recount does not involve actually counting ballots, Rosand said Thursday.
Undervotes
“We are required by law to review ballots containing undervotes in that contest,” she said.
Staff members are reviewing 5,458 ballots that contained undervotes — meaning voters did not vote for all five positions in District 1.
The results will be released after the county canvassing board meets to certify the recount today, Rosand said.
Charter review panel members will be sworn in at their first meeting in January.
They will review the charter, Clallam County’s “constitution” for county government, and recommend amendments that will go before voters in November.
A Charter Review Commission is elected every eight years.
District 1 extends from the eastern county line to Boyce Road in Carlsborg. District 2 is the area between Boyce Road and Valley Creek in Port Angeles. District 3 covers the West End beginning at Valley Creek.
