DARRINGTON — Twenty-one days after the election, the Darrington School Board just might have a winner in a tightly contested race.
There was just one vote in Skagit County to be counted on Tuesday.
It had been sitting around unopened for nearly two weeks, a part of the last batch of ballots to be counted.
As it turned out, the ballot had been left blank for the school board contest, according to Skagit County election officials. Results were posted just after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
All of which means former Darrington School District Superintendent Dave Holmer has a two-vote lead over Jennie Requa for an opening on the town’s school board. Holmer is ahead 307 to 305, with all of the votes from both Snohomish and Skagit counties now counted.
Snohomish County will do its machine recount on Monday morning. By state law, machine recounts occur when the margin is greater than one quarter of 1 percent but less than one half of 1 percent, said Snohomish County elections manager Garth Fell.
Holmer picked up one vote in Snohomish County on Monday to lead 283 to 282 in the county. Holmer leads 24 to 23 in Skagit County.
The candidates will have to wait a week to find out for sure who won. That’s when Skagit County will do a recount, which is required based on the close margin. If one of Holmer’s votes goes to Requa, she would win.
Holmer, the district’s former superintendent and high school principal, has said Darrington should be well served regardless of who wins.
Requa graduated from Darrington High School and has three children enrolled in the small-town district, which has slightly more than 400 students.
If for some reason the candidates end up tied, the race would be decided by a coin flip.
Traditionally, in Snohomish County any way, the winner gets the office and the loser gets the coin.
“We have one in the desk just in case we need it,” Fell said.
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