The ballots are in and being counted carefully, which also means slowly.
In the South Bay, several races were still too close to call as of Thursday afternoon, leaving candidates and supporters waiting anxiously for each new update.
As of Thursday, the total ballot count was just above 51%. The registrar’s office said the public may not realize how much goes into processing each ballot once signatures are verified and then opened.
"They have to go through the machines, to precinct, to identify the ballots that are for each precinct," registrar information officer Evelyn Mendez said. "Then it goes to adjudication. It can go through duplication. A lot of different steps before it gets to the ballot counting room where they are actually fed into the machines and the results come out."
Santa Clara councilman and mayoral candidate Anthony Becker had an enjoyable time on election night with his supporters, but the waiting since has not been as fun.
Becker is in the closest race in the South Bay, trailing incumbent Lisa Gillmor by less than 170 votes in one recent count.
"It’s nerve-wracking, it’s nervous," Becker said. "I know that probably my opponent is feeling the same thing. I think we’re both in the same boat."
Gillmor declined to comment.
