We still don’t know who the winners are in these races

EVERETT — By hand or machine, a recount of ballots might be needed to determine the outcome of contests for seats on the Everett School Board, South County Regional Fire Authority commission and Bothell City Council.

But it might be avoided by those dueling to be the next Snohomish County treasurer.

On Monday, the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office tallied another 8,500 ballots from the Nov. 5 election. There are now about 500 left to count with another update of results due Tuesday.

Certification is set for Nov. 26.

In one of the closest contests, Andrew Nicholls is 35 votes ahead of Jamyang Dorjee Nhangkar for a seat on the Everett Public Schools Board of Directors.

Nhangkar is trying to keep the seat to which he was appointed last year. At stake is a six-year term on the policy-setting board for the Everett School District.

Their vote totals are just .13% apart. Under state law, a hand recount is required when the final margin is .25% or less. If the difference is between .26% and .50%, then a machine recount of ballots must be done.

A similar path might await Greg Urban and Nicholas Gullickson, who are vying for the District 2 commissioner position for South County Fire. Urban is leading Gullickson by 22 votes, which works out to a .07% difference.

South County Fire provides fire and emergency medical services to nearly 250,000 residents in southwest Snohomish County, including the cities of Lynnwood, Brier, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace.

Mason Thompson and Leigh Henderson continue to run neck-and-neck for a seat on the City Council in Bothell, which lies in both Snohomish and King counties.

Henderson holds a 31-vote lead following Monday’s tally in Snohomish County. The margin stands at .27%, which would require a machine recount. King County, where Henderson has performed stronger, did not count ballots Monday.

Meanwhile, Monday’s updated results pushed Brian Sullivan’s lead in the race for Snohomish County treasurer past recount range.

Sullivan, a Snohomish County Councilman, extended his advantage on Rob Toyer, a Marysville City Councilman, to 1,131 votes. He has 50.1% to Toyer’s 49.4. If the margin stands, no recount will be triggered.

Updated results can be found on The Herald’s website at www.heraldnet.com.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@herald net.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.