Update 1 p.m. Thursday
Yellowstone County Election Administrator Dayna Causby said Thursday morning the number of ballots tabulated Monday will be under 200, not 678, but could not provide a more specific number.
She said the office resolved 33 ballots on Wednesday by 5 p.m., resulting in a final rejection rate of 2.08%.
The office had received 678 total ballots that were awaiting a fix. Not all were fixed by voters.
Update 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
In a race that remains too close to call, Billings businessman Mike Nelson is poised to become Billings' next mayor, but his leading opponent, City Council member Jennifer Owen, has not conceded.
The results remained unchanged Wednesday, with Nelson leading by 185 votes. Yellowstone County election workers trued up 678 additional provisional ballots that will be counted Monday. On most of those ballots, voters forgot to write their birth year on the outside of the envelope in accordance with a new state law but were allowed to come into the election to fix the problem and allow their vote to be counted.
On his campaign Facebook page, Nelson wrote that he was thanking "the voters in our great city for trusting me as your next Mayor".
Owen wrote on her Facebook page that she doesn't expect to know the final results until next week.
"I am confident that we worked harder and got more people excited about local government than I could have imagined," she wrote.
Related:
Yellowstone County rejected ballots drop to 2.28% on day after election
Republican-backed candidates struggle in Billings municipal races
Update: 12:15 a.m.
Mike Nelson improved his lead over Jennifer Owen in the race for Billings mayor in the final unofficial count released early Wednesday morning.
Nelson increased his lead to 185 votes, tallying 11,735 votes to Owen's 11,550. He's ahead 39.10 percent to 38.48 percent for Owen, a margin .62 percent that falls outside the recount threshold.
Yellowstone County election officials plan to release unofficial results Wednesday evening after counting votes from people who failed to write their birth year on the outside of their ballot in accordance with a new state law. Those voters are allowed to true up their ballots through 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Update: 11:30 p.m.
Nelson extended his lead to 67 votes following a third release of ballots Tuesday night.
Nelson had 11,202 votes to Owen's 11,135. Percentage-wise, he leads 38.81 percent to 38.58 percent— a difference of .23 points.
According to Montana law, candidates trailing by less than .25 percent after the final count can request a recount.
Update: 9:15 p.m.
The gap between Mike Nelson and Jennifer shrunk to four votes in the second release of ballots Tuesday night.
Nelson leads 9,732 votes to Owen's 9,728 votes, a margin of one-one-hundredth of a percentage point.
On Tuesday night, both candidates said they were waiting until all votes were cast before determining their next steps.
"I think we probably are just getting started, but you know what, let's count the votes. Let's count them correctly. No matter how long it takes, let's get the right result. Everybody has a right to vote, and their vote is important," Nelson said at his campaign party at the Pub Station.
"I think people are engaged. They're excited. People have been very wonderful throughout this campaign process. I'm incredibly grateful, so we're just going to see how it plays out tonight," Owen said at her event at Hilands Golf Club.
See the candidates react below:
Billings also five city council races. Here's the results as of 10 p.m.
Ward 1
Mark Nicholson 2,377
David Redmon 1,462
Ward 2
Earnest Hammer 856
Denis Pitman 2,309
Kassi Strong 2,194
Ward 3
Amy Aguirre 2,577
TJ Rogers 1,883
Click here for updated results.
Billings businessman Mike Nelson and City Council member Jennifer Owen are leading the race for the city’s mayor in early returns.
Nelson, who owns the Northern Hotel, had 9,088 votes, while Owen collected 9,021, according to the first count from the Yellowstone County Elections Office. City Council member Mike Boyett is in third place with 3,913, while challenger Amanda Housler rounds out the race with 1,501.
Yellowstone County elections officials expect to release one or two more counts Tuesday night.
A new wrinkle on the ballots could delay results. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 3 percent of all ballots were rejected, the majority because voters forgot to put their birth year on the outside of the ballot in accordance with a new state law.
Elections officials said they are allowing voters to fix the error through Wednesday, and they will release a final count that evening.
Voter turnout is 36.56 percent, according to the elections office.
See previous Q2 coverage here:
Mike Nelson touts business, development experience in bid for Billings mayor
Jennifer Owen focuses on families, transparency in bid for Billings mayor
Mike Boyett highlights lifetime of service in run for Billings mayor
Amanda Housler brings youthful energy to race for Billings mayor
