DeKalb County certifies primary election results following glitch

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The DeKalb County Board of Elections has certified its May 24 primary election results

The board voted 4 to 1 to certify results Friday after a glitch forced workers to hand count ballots for one race. Those results included the contested County Commission District Two Democratic primary. Complaints from Michelle Long Spears sparked the recount. The poll tape posted outside several precincts, including the one Spears voted in, showed she did not receive a single vote. Following the recount, she received more than 6,000 votes, winning the nomination.

Election workers started the hand count Sunday and continued Monday, finally wrapping up around midnight. Their work, however, was not complete. Employees then had to manually enter the vote totals for each batch of ballots by precinct.

The elections board was originally scheduled to certify the primary results at a noon meeting Tuesday, but workers were not finished inputting data.

The state-imposed deadline to certify the election was Tuesday at 5p.m.

Smith asked board members to give them until Friday to report final results. The board agreed to meet Friday at 5 p.m. to certify the primary election.