By Scott D. Johnston

For The Grays Harbor News Group

The Ocean Shores mayoral race tightened up even further Friday afternoon as updated ballot counting showed incumbent mayor Crystal Dingler overtaking challenger Susan Conniry to gain a 17-vote lead, 1,523 to 1,506. But with more ballots still to be counted, the race is anything but decided.

The election results page on the Grays Harbor County website indicates the next official count will not be released until 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.

Asked to comment, Dingler quickly replied that while she is “pleased, a little more so than last time,” (she trailed by 30 votes in the first tabulation that was released Tuesday night), “I don’t know that this is any more final than the other.”

Conniry said, “It’s an interesting turn, but we remain optimistic. There are still more votes out there, many that were rejected that may be recovered, and we’re still incredibly close. It’s quite a roller coaster!”

Ballot status information from the Washington Secretary of State’s website shows there may be as many as 40 Ocean Shores ballots that have been rejected as unsigned, non-matching signature, or on hold for unspecified reasons. The final ballot count is to be certified by the County Auditor’s office by Nov. 26 and by theSecretary of State’s office by Dec. 5.