A number of news organizations in Washington state and nationwide have already called the vote against I-522, the state’s ballot initiative for labeling food from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). But since the vote was called late Tuesday night, the gap has closed by four percentage points, from a 55-45 percent spread to 53-47. The Yes on 522 campaign has not given up, saying there are still too many uncounted votes. At press time, a full 18.1 percent of Washington’s 1,685,170 ballots have still not been counted, due to delays related to the state-wide mail-in ballot system. Could the vote on I-522 still reverse? A look at the numbers shows that it is still possible, but not likely. At the bare minimum, 63.4 percent of the remaining 304,633 uncounted ballots will need to choose Yes to reverse the decision. Even in King County, the state’s most populous area and home to Seattle, the measure only leads by a percentage spread of 57.5 to 42.5. A full 135,119 votes remain uncounted in King County. Because Yes trails No by 81,399 votes, Yes needs at least 193,017 out of 304,633 votes to reverse the outcome. The only county where Yes leads by a margin greater than 63.4 percent is San Juan County, which has seen 64.6 percent of voters say Yes. At press time, Yes has won majority approval in five of Washington’s 39 counties: King, Jefferson, San Juan, Whatcom and now Thurston. While Thurston county originally reported majority disapproval, the measure now leads by 51 percent there. Statistics on the I-522 are available at Washington’s Secretary of State website.
