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Recount cancelled in city council race; runoff between Bond, English unclear

Courtney English says there will be a runoff between him and Michael Julian Bond.
Courtney English

A Friday recount in an extremely tight Atlanta city council election has been cancelled.

Courtney English, who came within 375 votes of unseating incumbent Michael Julian Bond in the Post 1 At Large seat, withdrew his request, according to a letter from his attorney.

“Results certified by the Board of Elections in DeKalb County and Fulton County indicate that no candidate received a majority of the votes cast in the election, thus requiring a runoff election,” said David Dove, English’s attorney.

However, 11Alive contacted both boards of election, as well as the Georgia Secretary of State, and none of them were able to confirm an actual runoff.

A total of 82,065 votes were officially cast and counted in the race. Bond finished with 41,220 votes, compared to English’s 40,845, a margin of 375 votes.

RELATED | Recount coming in Atlanta city council race

Georgia law governing elections says that when the difference in the number of votes between candidates is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast, a recount can be requested by the losing candidates.

In Fulton, 378 write-in votes were cast, but the county said those votes will not be included in the recount because they were not certified. In DeKalb, 44 write-in ballots were cast, but none of those votes were cast for Bond or English

"The last word I received from our superintendent of elections and our city clerk is that I'm the winner," Bond said late Thursday afternoon. "Mr. English's campaign is that those write-in votes should be certified, which is not allowed in our race."

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