DeKalb County elections staff will conduct another count of ballots from Tuesday’s District 2 commission race.
The latest results posted from the contest show Michelle Long Spears in third place, trailing opponents Marshall Orson and Lauren Alexander and on the outside of a would-be runoff. Spears and her campaign, however, have raised questions about the county’s results, which appear to show she garnered zero election day votes at most precincts in the district.
DeKalb elections officials have attributed that to a “display error” created when the name of a fourth candidate who qualified for the race but later withdrew was removed from some results. They said Wednesday they believe their overall vote totals to be accurate.
Nevertheless, the elections office plans to re-scan the ballots cast in District 2 on Friday, a spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We are going to make sure that we are doing our due diligence to make sure what we’re reporting is accurate,” elections director Keisha Smith said.
Results are considered unofficial and incomplete until certified by the county elections board. DeKalb’s board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
Orson and Alexander, meanwhile, both wrote on Facebook Wednesday that they were proceeding as if they were in a runoff.
“We think we finished first and are headed to a runoff,” Orson wrote. “But, it is DeKalb so there has to be some drama.”
