NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — A machine recount is scheduled for Saturday morning as the race for second place in Tallahassee's City Commission Seat 3 remains unresolved.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
A 14-vote margin is all that separates Tom Derzypolski and Talethia Edwards in the race for second place in Tallahassee's City Commission Seat 3, with a machine recount scheduled to begin Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Updated unofficial results show P.J. Perez leading the race with 11,632 votes, or 29.06%. Derzypolski holds second place with 10,532 votes, or 26.31%, and Edwards is in third with 10,518 votes, or 26.27%. Only one of them will advance to face Perez in the runoff.
On Friday, the Leon County Canvassing Board reviewed provisional and vote-by-mail ballots with pending issues. Ballots that arrived on time but had problems were reviewed and, when necessary, recreated. Ballots accepted by the canvassing board were tabulated and added to the unofficial results.
Edwards said watching the process gave her confidence in how the votes are being counted.
"This is a very tedious process, nail-biting, but very grateful to see, you know, the gap is closing, and it was 24 votes, 14 votes now. It's really in the hands of God; my faith is." Edwards said.
She also praised the work of election staff.
"You know, I've left it all over the field, so we're watching this process and very grateful to the supervisor election and their staff, how they are very diligent with the votes," Edwards said.
Derzypolski said the transparency of the process left him at ease.
"I feel great about today's process to see democracy in action, the transparency, the professionalism of the team at Leon County. As a candidate, whether you're ahead or behind, you gotta just be totally impressed and at peace." Derzypolski said.
He added that his work in the community will continue regardless of the final outcome.
"There's different capabilities, different skills and experiences that are important to differentiate us, but I'll be happy to continue to share my ideas with folks," Derzypolski said.
Neighbor Stephen K. Beasley said he plans to return Saturday to watch the machine recount in person.
"It will tell that the election was well ran, it will tell that it was honest and the people voted, and it was close so that they are looking at it in detail," Beasley said.
The 14-vote difference falls within Florida's half-percent threshold for a machine recount. If the margin remains at a quarter of one percent or less after the machine recount, a manual recount would be the next step.
Supervisor Earley says official results will be announced by Noon on Wednesday, August 26th.
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