by Rick North
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What a difference a week makes.
Late-counted ballots from all over Oregon have now reduced the vote deficit to only 6,371 on the GMO food labeling initiative.
This is:
50.22% No
49.78% Yes
At this point, a difference of around 2,900 votes or less would be enough to trigger an automatic recount, which goes into effect at .2% or less of all ballots cast for the measure.
There are around 13,000 ballots cast still not counted because something isn’t quite right with them – signatures not matching what is on record at the county election offices, missing signatures, unclear votes because of the ballots getting wet (this is Oregon, after all).
Moreover, there are still ballots that are already valid that haven’t been counted yet. We don’t know exactly how many, but there could certainly be another 10,000.
Voters who submitted one of the not-valid-yet ballots were notified by their county election offices. If they can go to their local office and correct the ballot by 5:00 p.m. this coming Tuesday, Nov. 18, the ballot will count. If they don’t, it won’t count.
Although the Secretary of State has until Nov. 28 to produce a final tally, we’ll know pretty much where we stand on the 18th.
The odds are still against us winning outright and it’s a steep hill to climb. But it’s not so steep now, the wind is at our back, and a recount is definitely within our sights.
Do you believe in miracles?
