Many Bay Area races are still not settled. In a news release Wednesday, the San Francisco Department of Elections said it still had to process and count about 164,000 ballots.
That figure includes about 154,000 vote-by-mail ballots that came in on Election Day by mail, at drop boxes and at polling places, plus about 10,000 provisional ballots. The department said it had already reported nearly all ballots received before noon on Election Day. It will also count mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive by Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Next door, San Mateo County's election-night results included mail ballots received only through Oct. 30, not Nov. 1 as expected, The Almanac reported. Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry blamed heavy last-minute ballot volume and ballots that needed extra review for unclear markings. He said longtime election workers called it the largest final-days flood they had seen.
The slowdown left close contests open. In Menlo Park, Measure P was trailing with 47.8% yes, and challenger Vamsi Velagapudi led incumbent Drew Combs by nine votes, 721 to 712, in the District 4 council race, The Almanac reported. San Mateo County's next update was expected Thursday, Nov. 5.
Vote counts cited here are unofficial. Bay Area counties are still processing mail and provisional ballots, and results are not certified until later this month, so margins can change.