[Update, 6/18/24 at 8:35 p.m.:]
With most precincts having reported, it's now clear that no candidate in the Arlington Democratic County Board primary will reach the magical 50-percent threshold on the first ballot.
That puts the race in limbo until Friday afternoon, when provisional and final mail ballots will be added to the mix and a preliminary computer run of the ranked-choice process will play out.
The final computer tabulation will be held Saturday.
As was the case earlier in the evening, the trio of J.D. Spain Sr., Natalie Roy and Tenley Peterson are bunched at the top in terms of vote totals, with James DeVita and Julie Farnam trailing.
[Original coverage:]
Votes continue to be reported, but at this point it appears none of the five Democratic Arlington County Board candidates will come away with 50 percent of the vote on the first round to win today's primary outright.
That means further tabulation under the ranked-choice-voting method will be needed at the end of the week, once the final mail and provisional ballots are counted.
As the precinct totals came in Tuesday night, three candidates – J.D. Spain Sr., Tenley Peterson and Natalie Roy – were bunched at the top, with contenders James DeVita and Julie Farnam trailing.
In one possible scenario in Arlington's unique-in-Virginia ranked-choice tabulation, it's possible that most of the votes of DeVita and Farnam could gravitate in later rounds to Roy, as all three have similar views against the Missing Middle housing policy (although not necessarily similar views on other issues).
On the other hand, either Peterson or Spain could benefit from the votes of the other, as they share pro-Missing Middle sentiments.
