School board President Norman Yee has taken a 33-vote lead in the race for the District 7 seat on the Board of Supervisors, although the contest is not yet over.
Yee had trailed labor leader F.X. Crowley last week, but took the lead Saturday as more votes were counted over the weekend. He retained that lead following Monday’s latest tally.
“It’s going in the right direction for me,” Yee said about Monday afternoon’s updated vote count.
Citywide, there are about 30,000 ballots left to count, with about 1,500 provisional ballots remaining in District 7. A final tabulation could come before Thanksgiving.
“I am not announcing a winner here,” Department of Elections Director John Arntz said Monday. “I am not saying even tomorrow or Thursday will be the final tabulation. I’ve got until Dec. 4 to certify the election; that is when there is going to be a winner for District 7.”
Since none of the nine candidates in the race received more than ?50 percent of the vote, The City’s ranked-choice voting system comes into play. Some voters’ second- and third-choice selections were used once the candidates they selected with first-place picks were disqualified. The process continues until one candidate receives a majority.
All throughout the vote tabulation, Yee remained the candidate who received the most first-place votes. But last week, once ?ranked-choice selections were tabulated, Crowley was leading by as many as 331 votes on Wednesday.
jsabatini@sfexaminer.com
