As of 2 p.m. today, more than 3,000 ballots from Long Beach’s 2nd District City Council race remain to be counted, according Aaron Nevarez of the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.

 

Election night results showed Jeannine Pearce holding a 134-vote lead over Eric Gray: 3,557 to 3,423.  The district includes much of the downtown area, the Port of Long Beach, the East Village and business corridors such as Broadway, 4th Street and 7th Street.

 

Nevarez told the Business Journal that results would be posted tomorrow as soon as the count is completed, but cautioned that the counts are “updated totals, not final numbers.” The county has until July 7th to verify all election results, but is hoping to complete the verification no later than July 1st.

 

Nevarez also said approximately 2,000 of the remaining ballots are provisional, which means voter registration must be verified. The others are absentee ballots that were delivered to polling places on Election Day or arrived later in the mail.

 

The Business Journal is on record supporting Gray for the 2nd District seat. The winner will be sworn in on July 19th.