Deer Park School Board race will go down to the last day

November 9, 2011

Updated on Nov. 21.
Deer Park School Board incumbent Eric Keller and challenger Marie Layman must wait until Nov. 29 to determine the outcome of the general election race.
Keller currently leads Layman 1,390-1,350 for the at-large director position thanks to a strong showing in Stevens County.
Each of the three county election offices that encompass part of the school district will not release another vote count until Tuesday when all general elections must be certified.
The Spokane County Elections Office has about 100 votes left to count, but it is not known how many of them are from the northern part of the county.
The Stevens County Elections Office has 200 ballots left to count, but it is not known how many will impact the Deer Park School Board race.
Layman is out-polling Keller in Spokane County 1,016-950, while Keller holds a large edge in Stevens County 435-327. Layman leads in Pend Oreille County 7-5 in totals that have not changed since election night.
If the totals do not change the race will not trigger an automatic recount since Keller holds a 1.46 percent lead (50.73-49.27). A race must be less than a 1 percent difference to trigger the recount mechanism.
Fellow Deer Park School Board incumbents, Carri Breckner and Jeff Whittle, will not be impacted by Tuesday’s final count since they hold substantial leads over their challengers.