The nail biting could continue into next week — or beyond — for those watching the race for Baltimore County executive. Right now just 42 votes separate Democrats Johnny Olszewski and Jim Brochin, and the outcome hinges on the remaining absentee and provisional ballots.
The county Board of Elections says that when it begins counting provisional ballots on Thursday, July 5, it will start with those cast by Republicans. Later in the day officials will begin counting ballots on the Democratic side.
Officials also need to count the remaining absentee ballots that came in after the first round was counted. There are up to 1,600 outstanding absentee ballots on the Democratic side. Officials say the entire process might last into next week.
Two representatives from each campaign — including that of Vicki Almond, who trails Olszewski by 1,059 votes — will be allowed to attend the ballot review.
A snafu with the Motor Vehicle Administration in which updated voter registration information was not handled correctly meant that a larger number of people than usual in the state had to cast provisional ballots.
“As a result of the increased number of provisional ballots cast in the 2018 Primary Election and the closeness of the Democratic nomination for County Executive, results from this election may take longer than expected but they will be accurate and considered in a way that is fair to all candidates,” the board of elections said in a statement. 
The vote totals are so close right now that if the percentages don’t shift substantially, it is likely there would be a recount.
If the final votes, including provisional and absentee, show a result in which two candidates are within 0.1 percent of each other, either candidate can formally request a recount and his or her campaign would not have to pay for it. As of now, Brochin and Olszewski are within that margin, as both have 32.9 percent of the vote.
If the margin is wider, the candidate can still petition for a recount, but the campaign would have to pay. And the campaign would have to decide what kind of recount it wanted to fund. It could range from simply reviewing the tapes from precinct scanners to reloading the memory sticks and running a new report to a very costly manual review of ballots.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will face Republican Al Redmer in the general election.