The contentious and controversial special election for the 197th District of the state House has an unofficial winner — Democrat Emilio Vazquez. It also has an official investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office into allegations of voter fraud during Tuesday’s election. Staffers from the city’s Board of Elections spent Friday morning methodically combing through long reams of narrow paper tapes, calling out the votes for write-in candidates such as Vazquez. The count showed Vazquez winning with 73.5 percent of the vote. Green Party nominee Cheri Honkala, who like Vazquez was kept off the ballot by a Commonwealth Court judge’s ruling, finished second with 10.5 percent. Other write-in candidates took a combined 8.6 percent.
And Lucinda Little, the Republican nominee and the only candidate who had her name printed on the ballot, took 7.4 percent.
In an uncommon showing, more than nine out of every 10 votes in the election was a write-in.
The city commissioners will wait five days to certify the results, allowing time for legal challenges that are almost certain to come.
Full Article: The 197th District has an unofficial winner, and an official investigation.