PORT TOWNSEND — A proposed levy lid lift to support fire and emergency services in the city of Port Townsend is among the three questions that likely won’t be decided until Tuesday’s general election is certified Nov. 29, said the county auditor after a third count of ballots Thursday.

Also too close to call are the Port Townsend City Council race between Deborah Stinson and Jack Range — though Stinson leads slightly — and the contest between Herb Beck and Deborah Randall for a seat on the Quilcene Fire District commission, in which Beck has a slim lead.

Other contests were decided Tuesday night.

Countywide, 14,406 ballots, or 60.44 percent of the 21,683 ballots issued to registered voters, have been returned.

The Jefferson County Auditor’s Office had no ballots on hand left to count, said Auditor Donna Eldridge on Thursday.

She added that more could arrive in the mail or that challenged ballots could be cleared.

Currently, 19 votes from Port Townsend and 69 votes from the unincorporated area of the county fall in the challenge category, ballots that have been im-properly signed or authenticated.

No more counts will take place until 250 ballots arrive or the certification deadline occurs, Eldridge said.

The proposed levy lid lift had been approved by seven votes after Thursday’s count — one less than in the Wednesday count — with 2,086, or 50.08 percent, voting to approve it and 2,079, or 49.92 percent, voting to reject it.

If the levy lid lift is approved in the final tally, even by a small margin, it will go into effect, since passage is by a simple majority of votes, said Auditor Donna Eldridge.

The levy lid lift would authorize a maximum levy rate for collection in 2012 of $2.4868 per $1,000 assessed value, an increase of about 43 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

The increase is restricted to providing for fire protection, prevention and emergency services by contract with East Jefferson Fire-Rescue to match the contribution of residents in the unincorporated area of East Jefferson County.

Stinson was leading Range by 19 votes for a seat on the City Council on Thursday.

Stinson, who won the Jefferson County Heart of Service award earlier this year, had 1,967 votes, or 50.03 percent, while Range, an investigator for Jefferson Associated Counsel, had 1,948 votes, or 49.54 percent.

The two seek the Position 3 seat vacated by Laurie Medlicott.

An automatic recount will take place if the final vote spread is less than half of 1 percent.

“It is what it is,” said Stinson on Thursday afternoon as she stopped by the Auditor’s Office for the latest results of the general election.

“I knew it would be close but didn’t think it would be this close or go on this long.”

She and Range, who also arrived to check on the vote tally, struck up a cordial conversation, in keeping with their behavior during the campaign.

“This was a fun campaign,” Stinson said. “We made it interesting.”

Added Range: “Little did we know that it would be this interesting.”

In the race for a Quilcene Fire District commission seat, Beck, 73, maintained a slight lead over Randall, 47, who was appointed to the commission in August 2010.

Beck had six more votes than Randall, having won 383 votes, or 49.87 percent, to Randall’s 377 votes, or 49.09 percent.

If Beck maintains his lead in the final tally, then he will win the seat, since the margin in that race is greater than one-half of 1 percent, Eldridge said.

Beck not only served for three decades as a volunteer with Jefferson’s Fire District No. 2, he was also a Port of Port Townsend commissioner for 36 years.

Randall is the only fire district commissioner who is not facing a recall action. She serves with Commissioners Mike Whittaker and David Ward. A Kitsap County judge ruled last month that a recall action can proceed against Whittaker and Ward, a ruling that could be appealed.

________

Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.