Votes Still Coming In From Board Of Elections; Results To Be Certified Monday

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The numbers are still coming in. More than a week after the primary election, drama surrounds the Baltimore City mayoral race.

Right now, Catherine Pugh and Sheila Dixon are separated by just a small margin.

Investigator Mike Hellgren has more.

The unofficial final count shows that Catherine Pugh is still the winner. She has 48,665 votes to Sheila Dixon's 46,219. That's a difference of just 2,446 votes.

That is expected to be certified Monday.

Sheila Dixon watched and waited as the votes were counted in her shot to regain the office she lost in disgrace. Despite gaining on her competitor, she could not overcome a deficit of more than 2,000 votes. It's unclear if she'll challenge the results.

The election director said 2,819 provisional ballots---given when there's a question about eligibility at the polls---were rejected, most because those who cast them were not affiliated with the political party, a requirement in the primary. He brushed off concerns brought by activist groups that the election was unfair and fraudulent with ill-trained election judges turning voters away.

"What we do is send the numbers that we have gathered to the state board and they review those numbers and look at them and then they'll send a sheet here for the board to sign," Armistead Jones said.

In addition to Dixon, candidates in several close City Council races were watching, too; they've also voiced concerns about problems at the polls that they believe are falling on deaf ears.

"For us to hold an election and be held accountable to these things that have occurred is a travesty," said Betsy Gardiner.

But the primary race may not be over. Once the state certifies the numbers, candidates have three days to ask for a recount. Anyone challenging the final vote has seven days to take it to court.

"Oh I have no reservations about what's been gathered here in this office," Jones said.

The final counts will be certified Monday. More than 2,800 provisional ballots were thrown out.