SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — The race for a runoff spot in a South Fulton City Council race came down to just one vote, before Fulton County ordered a recount last week.
Now results of the recount posted by the Georgia Secretary of State's Office indicate that who will get that second spot in the runoff has flipped. (In Georgia, statewide races and many local races that have no candidate clearing a 50% + 1 vote threshold go to a runoff between the top two vote-getters.)
Candidate Keosha Bell, who was one vote behind Kalvin Bennett for second place, 404-403, in initially published results, gained 13 votes in the recount according to the certified results released to 11Alive.
Bennett, meanwhile, gained five - putting Bell ahead, 416-409 (earlier finalized results on the Georgia Secretary of State's Office showed the margin at 417-408 in Bell's favor). Both candidates were looking to unseat incumbent Corey Reeves, who had 491 votes in the initially published results and 502 after the recount.
“This is a prime example that every vote counts,” Bell told 11Alive last week. Bennett told 11Alive the unusually close situation between him and Bell also showed "the importance of getting every vote out, I mean every vote."
Under Georgia election rules, the South Fulton City Council District 5 race would have gone to a recount anyway, because the margin for the runoff spot was under 0.5%. The county however ordered a full recount across all its races in order to "review several races affected by recent redistricting."
Once the results are certified, and barring any potential legal challenge, Bell and Reeves would go to a runoff that would take place December 5.