In a state Senate race that has been too close to call since Election Day, Democrat Mike Machado widened his narrow lead over Republican Alan Nakanishi on Thursday after San Joaquin County elections officials counted more than 10,000 late absentee ballots. Out of nearly 300,000 votes cast in the race, Machado is now leading by 607 votes, officials said late Thursday. Machado is more than 3,800 votes ahead in the San Joaquin County portions of the district, but losing by about 3,200 votes in Sacramento County. Officials in both counties are unsure exactly how many ballots from the 5th Senate District remain to be counted, but estimated that there are still more than 4,000 mostly provisional ballots outstanding. They may not be tallied until sometime next week.
Provisional ballots are ones in which there is a question about the person's entitlement to vote.
Counting them is time-consuming because provisional ballots must be reviewed individually. The Nakanishi campaign acknowledged it would be difficult to make up the difference. Dr. Nakanishi is humbled and gratified by the support he has received. Machado was unavailable for comment. The late absentee ballots counted Thursday were those dropped off at polling places on Election Day or mailed too late to be counted with the regular ballots.