A mere five votes now separate State Center Community College District incumbent Trustee Bobby Kahn from challenger Destiny Rodriguez, according to vote totals reported in Fresno and Madera counties.

While the Madera County Elections Office has already certified its election results, Fresno County is not scheduled to release its final count and certify its election until Thursday.

Any ballots in Fresno County yet to be counted will be the result of a ballot verification process that begins with “signature cure letters” going out to voters whose signatures on their ballot was found not to be comparable with the signature on file, or when there is no signature on the ballot. Voters who receive those letters must return a signature verification statement no later than Thursday morning, County Clerk James Kus said.

The final results and certification of the Nov. 8 election will be posted by 5 p.m. Thursday, he said.

The county mailed out about 3,500 signature cure letters to voters in November’s election, but it’s unknown how many of those letters went to voters in the State Center Area 1 race, Kus said.

Lead Shrinks to 5

As of Tuesday, Kahn’s total over the two counties is 10,478 votes, a whisker-thin lead over Rodriguez’s 10,473 votes. The other challenger, Alfredo Miranda, has 4,171 votes over the two counties.

Rodriguez said in a text to GV Wire that while she is still hopeful that a recount will not be necessary, “depending on the outcome of this election, it is something I am considering.”

Kahn previously told GV Wire he didn’t anticipate seeking a recount if Rodriguez tallies more votes than he does.

State Center will proceed with the swearing-in of the certified winners at the Dec. 13 organizational meeting, even if a candidate is seeking a recount, Chancellor Carole Goldsmith said.

If a recount were to change the election results, the district would then conduct a second swearing-in, she said.

Such a tight race “reiterates the point that every vote counts,” Goldsmith said.