Could a recount be possible in the Montgomery County Executive race?
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - The waiting game in Montgomery County continues nearly a week after the Maryland Primary as voters still don't know who has won the battle for county executive.
The latest numbers show incumbent Democratic County Executive Marc Elrich has a small lead with 39,117 votes. His challenger David Blair has 38,976 votes.
So far, 25,000 mail-in ballots have been counted, but there's a long way to go.
Maryland law did not allow the mail-in ballots to start being counted until two days after the election. People in Montgomery County told FOX 5 that law needs to change.
"You’re supposed to mail them in by a certain date, and you would think they’d go to a particular place where they could be counted the next day," one viewer said.
Voters requested 115,000 mail-in ballots, and 32,000 came back through the postal service. Another 36,000 were placed in drop boxes.
But as long as ballots are postmarked by last Tuesday, July 19 and arrive by Friday at 10 a.m., they'll be counted.
County officials acknowledged that means there's no way to know how many ballots are still on the way.
READ MORE: Maryland 2022 Primary: Wes Moore wins Democratic gubernatorial nomination
"It’s also a reminder that we can do better, and it’s my hope that next year, it’s my hope that the state legislature next year will allow the mail-in ballots to be counted sooner so that we are not waiting weeks and days for this information," says Vice President of the Montgomery County Council Evan Glass.
Four years ago, the 2018 race between Elrich and Blair came down to 77 votes. There have been questions about a recount, and we could be headed there again.
Under Maryland law, if the final vote total falls within .25%, the ballots would have to be recounted, which means it could be weeks before we have a winner.