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Election Math: What Dyer Needs to Win Without Run-off

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There are about 80,000 ballots yet to be counted — 78,000 mail-in ballots, and 2,000 conditional registration/provisional ballots — Fresno County Elections Clerk Brandi Orth said Wednesday morning.
That’s after  116,867 ballots were counted Tuesday night.
So where does that leave the Fresno mayoral and city council District 4 races heading into Friday afternoon’s voting update?


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Dyer Needs 44% of Remaining Votes

Photo of Jerry Dyer talking to his supporters at the Elbow Room

Jerry Dyer

While same-day registration may alter the final numbers, Orth reported 471,384 registered voters in the county, with 250,755 registered in Fresno. That is 53%.
While Orth could not say which areas those remaining ballots are from, assuming they are proportional to the overall county registration, 53% or 42,556, would be left to count from the city of Fresno.
After day one counting in the mayoral race, Jerry Dyer garnered 54% of the vote, holding a 10,522-vote lead over Andrew Janz.
To maintain a majority and avoid a runoff, Dyer would need 44% or better of the remaining vote in the seven-candidate field.
Janz said Wednesday on Twitter that he expected the race to result in a run-off.

Maxwell Needs 47%

Tyler Maxwell

In the District 4 race, which has 34,672 registered voters, Tyler Maxwell leads Nathan Alonzo 53%-47%, or 332 votes, after day one counting.
To maintain the majority in the two-candidate race (there were 17 write-in votes), Maxwell would need approximately 47% of the remaining vote to prevail. There are approximately 5,885 votes to be counted if everything is proportional.

Did New System Affect Turnout?

This is the first Fresno County election under the Voters Choice Act system. Instead of hundreds of neighborhood precincts open only on Election Day, 53 voting centers were spread throughout the county, along with 43 drop boxes. The centers were open for early voting four-to-ten days before the election.
Additionally, every registered voter received a vote-by-mail ballot automatically. Before, only those who requested absentee ballots received them through the mail. Plus, all mail-in ballots could be returned postage-free.
With approximately 80,000 ballots to be added to the final count, that would mean 196,867 voted countywide, or a 41.8% turnout.
In the 2016 presidential primary, 169,333 or 40.8%, turned out. In the 2018 non-presidential primary, 136,388, or 31%, voted.
The VCA model increased the election costs $131,477 over the regular precinct model, with one-time additional costs of $319,000. It also provided a one-time savings of $1.6 million because the county had fewer voting locations.

Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email