SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz County Elections Office workers processed piles of uncounted ballots Thursday, with results from Tuesday’s election still not final as more than one-third of ballots are left to count.
An estimated 43,960 ballots still have to be counted. So far, 55,494 ballots have been counted: 28,093 ballots from the polls and 27,401 vote-by-mail ballots, according to the report posted on the county’s website Thursday afternoon.
Here’s the breakdown of uncounted ballots, according to the county’s mandatory report to the Secretary of State on Thursday afternoon.
- 38,000 vote-by-mail ballots
- 2,870 provisional ballots
- 2,840 same-day registration ballots
- 250 other ballots
An updated count is expected Friday afternoon. The final results will be certified by March 31.
The results of a recall of two Santa Cruz City Council members are still uncertain. The latest count, posted Wednesday morning with all precincts reporting, showed a 54% “Yes” vote for the recall of Councilmember Chris Krohn and a 56% “Yes” vote for the recall of Councilmember Drew Glover. More than 50% of the vote is required for the recall to pass.
John Beck, the county’s vote-by-mail coordinator, verifies signatures on uncounted ballots Thursday afternoon (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local) 
Tricia Webber, assistant county clerk, shows a storeroom of uncounted ballots Thursday, March 5, 2020 at the Santa Cruz County Elections Office. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local) 
County workers process uncounted ballots Thursday at the Santa Cruz County Elections Office. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)
Former Santa Cruz Mayor Katherine Beiers held a 10-percentage point lead over another former Santa Cruz Mayor, Don Lane, in the race for Krohn’s seat, should the recall pass.
Elementary school educator Renee Golder led with 60.7% percent of the vote to former Mayor Tim Fitzmaurice’s 37.5%, in the race for Glover’s seat, should the recall pass.
In the race for District 1 Santa Cruz County supervisor, a November runoff seemed likely. Wednesday’s count showed incumbent John Leopold with 45.8% of the vote. A candidate needs to secure more than 50% of the vote in the primary election to avoid a two-person runoff in November. Leopold likely will face challenger Manu Koenig, who had 29.3% of the vote as of Wednesday.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to fix a typo. The count from Wednesday showed a 56% “Yes” vote for the recall of Santa Cruz City Councilmember Drew Glover.
Kara Meyberg Guzman is a co-founder of Santa Cruz Local. From 2017-18, she served as the Santa Cruz Sentinel’s managing editor. She had other previous roles at the Sentinel, including working as a reporter covering transportation, education and the environment. She has a biology degree from Stanford University and lives in Santa Cruz.