With only about 1,500 ballots left to process in Clark County, several local races are almost certainly headed for an automatic recount. In the latest general election results posted Wednesday afternoon, outcomes remained unchanged.
A machine recount is required when the difference between candidates is less than 2,000 votes and less than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the total number of votes cast.
Democrat Adrian Cortes and Republican Brad Benton are just 340 votes apart in their bid for the 18th District Senate seat. Cortes held onto his lead with 41,712 votes (50.09 percent) to Benton’s 41,372 votes (49.68 percent).
Just 68 votes separate Clark County Council District 4 candidates Matt Little and Joe Zimmerman. Little has 23,568 votes (49.68 percent) to Zimmerman’s 23,500 votes (49.54 percent).
Clark County voters rejected Charter Amendment 18, which would have changed the county’s initiative process, by 292 votes. The measure has 118,677 votes (50.06 percent) against and 118,385 (49.94 percent) in favor.
In other close races, results also changed very little.
In the race for the 17th Legislative District House Position 2 seat, Republican David Stuebe is still ahead of Democrat Terri Niles. Stuebe has 42,592 votes (50.46 percent) to Niles’ 41,673 votes (49.37 percent), a 919-vote lead.
In the 17th Legislative District Senate race, Republican Paul Harris is ahead with 43,594 votes (51.15 percent) to Democrat Marla Keethler’s 41,498 votes (48.69 percent), a 2,096-vote lead.
Republican John Ley’s lead in the 18th Legislative District House Position 2 race narrowed slightly to 1,429 votes. Ley had 42,092 votes (50.77 percent) to Democrat John Zingale’s 40,663 votes (49.05 percent).
The next update will post around 4 p.m. today.
Voter turnout for the Nov. 5 general election now stands at 79.69 percent. County Auditor Greg Kimsey had predicted an 80-85 percent turnout, in line with past presidential elections.
Election results will be certified Nov. 26
