The polls will close on the Democratic primary at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but District residents should prepare themselves for uncertainty in the mayoral race. Unless it’s a blowout, it could be 10 days before the final count is in.
This year’s same-day registration, being allowed for the first time in D.C., threatens to snarl the final count. Those ballots, along with absentee votes, are counted separately from the electronic ballots cast at polling sites. The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics said as of Monday morning that it had received 2,774 same-day registration and change-of-address ballots in the two weeks of early voting. It has also sent out 5,000 absentee ballots. With more voters likely to register and change their addresses on Tuesday, it’s likely the number of ballots requiring a hand count will soar above 10,000. That’s about 10 percent of the average 100,000 votes cast in the past two mayoral primaries, although the campaigns believe the number of voters will be much higher on Tuesday.
