The recount results in the hotly contested congressional race to replace the retiring Anna Eshoo are in, but the final outcome is still up in the air.
After 12 days of recounting 182,000 ballots across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, Evan Low now leads Joe Simitian by just four votes. If the result holds, Low will move on to face Sam Liccardo in the November election for the 16th Congressional district.
But there are 16 challenged ballots still in envelopes in San Mateo County, where Simitian has performed better.
Those arrived after the deadline, but the county and postal service are investigating the post marks on the envelopes to decide if they should be opened and counted.
"What they have to look for right now is is there a full postmark?" NBC Bay Area political analyst Larry Gerston said. "Are there maybe two, which sometimes can happen. What about a postmark that isn’t fully stamped, only partially, what do you do with that?"
After weeks of steering clear from questions raised about the recount, Liccardo issued a statement Tuesday, saying, "I did not request this recount. Neither I nor anyone in my campaign has communicated with Padilla or his donors about the recount. Candidates and their campaigns cannot lawfully communicate with independent expenditure groups."
He added the messy recount process shows new laws are needed. He believes there should be automatic recounts in tight races and that all contributions to super PACs should be made public within 24 hours.
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The recently formed super PAC Count the Vote has paid for the recount, which was requested by Jonathan Padilla.
Padilla worked on Liccardo’s San Jose mayoral campaign 10 years ago and said the donor list will be published by mid-July, in compliance with federal election rules.
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NBC Bay Area asked each campaign for an interview Tuesday afternoon. Each said they’re waiting until all of the results are in.
"Each candidate has something going for himself," Gerston said. "For Low, it’s that big four point edge right now. For Simitian, it’s the fact that he’s much better known in that part of the congressional district than Low. Those are the two things that are going to be balanced. As to which comes out ahead, we’ll have to wait and see."
