PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth has officially certified its City Council election results, confirming incumbent Bill Moody lost his bid for an eighth consecutive term by 21 votes to challenger Mark Whitaker.
The city's General Registrar and Director of Elections April Barnes called News 3 reporter Naomi Washington around 5 p.m. Friday and directed her to the Virginia Department of Elections website for the certified results.
Whitaker received 12,922 votes, or 17.62% of the vote, while Moody received 12,901 votes, or 17.59%.
The certification came after the Portsmouth Elections Office spent Friday canvassing the votes.
See previous coverage: Portsmouth council incumbent Bill Moody says he lost reelection by 21 votes, plans to request recount
Barnes said 558 provisional ballots were cast in the election, and the Electoral Board counted 476 of them. She said election officials have 10 days from Election Day to count provisional ballots and met that deadline.
Moody announced Thursday night in a Facebook statement that he had learned he lost the race by 21 votes, despite initially being declared the winner by some media outlets on election night.
Moody said he planned to request a recount because the margin was less than 0.5%.
"It is a travisity of our local electoral system that it takes 10 days to determine the outcome of an election," Moody wrote, arguing that delays create mistrust and undermine public confidence in the democratic process.
Moody also reflected on his more than 28 years on City Council, thanking Portsmouth voters for supporting his seven consecutive terms.
"Serving the citizens of Portsmouth for more than 28 years has been one of the greatest honors and highlights of my life," he wrote.
News 3 has also reached out to Whitaker for comment.
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