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ELECTION UPDATE: Measure T’s lead falls to 47 votes in South Lake Tahoe

Proponents of Measure T hold signs along U.S. 50.
Ryan Hoffman / Tahoe Daily Tribune

The number is now 47.

That’s 47 votes separating “yes” and “no” on Measure T, a ballot question seeking to ban vacation rentals in South Lake Tahoe residential neighborhoods.

According to updated election numbers released Friday, the “yes” votes are currently at 3,284 (50.36 percent) while the “no” votes total 3,237 (49.64 percent).

It is a slight change from numbers released Wednesday, which showed 3,265 votes (50.45 percent) in favor of Measure T and 3,207 (49.55 percent) against.

As the Tribune reported at the time, approximately 2,600 ballots countywide still needed to be processed. Practically all of those were conditional or provisional ballots.

Friday’s update means about 1,800 ballots still need to be processed countywide.

Linda Webster, assistant registrar of voters for El Dorado County, told the Tribune earlier this week that it could take days to finish processing the remaining ballots.

Final election results must be submitted to the California Secretary of State’s Office by Dec. 7.

If the margin remains as tight as it currently is, that would trigger a automatic manual tally within the El Dorado County Elections Department. However, Webster said the office could decide to do a manual count even if the margin is not within the 1 percent threshold that would trigger a mandatory manual count.

Bottom line, she said, the election department wants to make sure the results will hold up if subjected to a recount.

Once results are certified, the public has five days — not just business days — to request a recount. That must be done in writing to the local election official.

Measure T made its way onto the ballot after a successful citizen-led petition effort. The question asked voters if they wanted to eliminate vacation home rentals outside the tourist core and commercial areas in three years.

Full-time residents would have the ability to rent out their home up to 30 days per year. Any future changes would need to be put to a vote of the people.

Turnout countywide is currently at 72.46 percent. In the city of South Lake Tahoe turnout is at 60.8 percent.

 


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