A recount of the results in the Mercedes City Commission Place 1 and 3 races yielded no change to the outcome of the June 10 runoffs.
A recount of the results in the Mercedes City Commission Place 1 and 3 races yielded no change to the outcome of the June 10 runoffs.
Leo Villarreal and Cris De Leon Hernandez remain the victors for the Place 1 and 3 posts, respectively, with the results of a Friday, June 23 recount showing that vote tallies went unchanged in both races.
This cements the long-awaited outcome of campaigns that began early this year. The runoffs were required after neither Villarreal nor Hernandez secured 50 percent of the vote plus one in the May 6 general election.
Candidates in Mercedes city elections are required to win by majority rather than plurality.
According to City Secretary Arce Felix, the tallies are now confirmed at 714 votes for Villarreal to his opponent, Leonel Benavidez’s 640; and 689 for Hernandez to her opponent, now former City Commissioner Armando Lopez’s 654.
Felix said both Benavidez and Lopez each paid $260 to conduct the recounts.
The voter turnout during the runoffs was at nearly 17 percent with 1,380 ballots cast — 377 from the day of the runoffs, 877 during early voting and 126 were absentee ballots.
