67 votes separate a possible victory in Arizona Democrats’ District 3 race, which is likely headed to a recount

PHOENIX (AZ family) — Maricopa County says it has counted about 99 percent of the roughly 740,000 ballots cast in Tuesday’s primary election, with 2,100 ballots remaining to be tabulated and verified as of Saturday night.

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

“In Arizona right now, both in the primary and in the general election, everything is very close. Parties and campaigns are organized to try to get as many votes as possible. And they are doing that because the margins are so close and because they recognize that every vote counts,” said Tom Collins, executive director of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission.

In Arizona, a recount is automatically triggered when the top two candidates in a race are within 0.5% of each other. In Maricopa County, election officials are prepared if either of them officially goes to a recount.

“We have several cases that are close together in Maricopa County. We’re monitoring them and making sure we can do a full count if we need to,” said Jennifer Liewer of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

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

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

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

“They’ve been working, contacting voters to correct ballots if there was a missing signature or a discrepancy in signatures, that kind of thing, so that’s what the campaigns have been doing,” he said.

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

Both candidates issued statements on Saturday.

“Since the beginning of this campaign, our diverse and progressive team has defied the odds in our fight for a better future. After the latest round of vote counting, we have maintained our lead in this race.”

“It’s a true testament to a dedicated team and the incredible volunteers who knocked on 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 couldn’t be more proud.”

“We continue to work hard to ensure 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 is just beginning.”

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