Seattle City Councillor Kshama Sawant took early voting measures to remove her in Thursday's vote count, and obtained 50.3% of the total vote count. Sawant made progress for two consecutive days, overcoming the 53% lead held by Tuesday's recall.
But three days after the vote was counted, the match was too close, with only 232 votes separating the "yes" and "no" votes of more than 40,000 voters, and nearly 600 votes were pending due to signature challenges.
In previous elections, Sawan also achieved a similar lead at the end of the vote counting, defeating her opponent by a 54% initial lead in the 2019 election.
However, since 591 ballots were challenged due to signatures-more than twice the current voting range-and mailed ballots entered slowly before December 16, Sawant could remain stable, gaining or losing votes.
King County Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson said: "Before certification, it's just a little bit of water." He pointed out that the county received nearly 40 valid ballots in the mail on Thursday.
In many elections in Washington, less than 0.5% of the total number of voters and less than 2,000 voters will trigger an automatic recount. Although this election may fall into these categories, there will be no automatic recounts, including recalls.
"The problem is that [campaign officials] will have to ask for a recount," Hodson said on Thursday.
If any event requires recounting, it should be completed before 4:30 pm on December 21, that is, the result will be two working days after certification on December 17. Events that require recounting must pay for the recounting fees.
"This is not a short period of time. For many people, it may take a few days, so this is not a cheap effort," Hodson said. "We are now working on [cost estimation]." She added.
At the same time, Hodson said that ballot returns and signature challenge data are public, and she encourages voters in District 3 to ensure that their votes are counted, noting that both campaigns are doing the same thing. She said her office is trying to contact voters whose signatures have not been verified.
The Kshama Solidarity Movement stated in a statement to supporters on Thursday night that “the battle is not over yet” and that voters are encouraged to track their votes.
Both the Solidarity Movement and the Recall Movement declined to comment on Thursday. Both events raised nearly US$1 million.
Elected for the first time in 2013 and re-selected in 2015 and 2019, the first Seattle committee member landed in the recall vote, representing District 3-including Capitol Hill, Central District, First Mountain, Madison Park, Chinatown International District, Macrona and Mount Baker. Her current term will end in 2023.
The recall brought three charges. One is that she used city resources to support the proposed "Amazon tax" voting plan and did not comply with the public disclosure requirements related to these fees. In May, she reached a settlement with the Seattle Ethics and Election Commission for $3,516, which was twice the amount she spent.
Sawant was also accused of violating the COVID-19 safety order by allowing hundreds of protesters to enter the city hall after get off work in June 2020. Sawant confirmed that she opened a city hall, but stated that she did not violate any laws. In addition, Sawant was accused of leading the march to the home of Mayor Jenny Durkan, although Durkan's address was protected by the State Secrets Program because of her previous role as a federal prosecutor. Sawant admitted and was recorded as participating in the parade, but stated that she was not involved in organizing the parade.
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