Incumbent District councilman Vincent Orange extended his margin of victory over challenger Sekou Biddle in the Democratic primary race for an at-large council seat following a counting of absentee and provisional ballots Friday.
Orange was leading Biddle by about 500 votes following the April 3 primary, but that lead was extended to more than 1,700 votes following Friday’s count.
The results released by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics are still considered unofficial until the election is certified on Wednesday. Orange votes now total 23,719 (40.4 percent) to Biddle’s 21,973 (37.4 percent).
The 3 percent margin means that for a recount to be triggered, Biddle or a voter would have to request it once the result are certified. An automatic recount occurs only if the margin is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast.
Biddle told The Washington Examiner he did not have any immediate plans to call for a recount. Orange did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The results come after a long primary night that ended with Orange and Biddle separated by just 543 votes, a margin of 1.02 percent. By law, the board had to wait 10 days after the election to count the roughly 3,000 outstanding provisional and absentee ballots before releasing the final election results.
In the event of a recount, the person calling for the effort would be billed for the cost unless it changes the outcome of the election.
