The race between Dante Acosta and Christy Smith is too close to call days after Election Day, as over 900,000 ballots still need to be counted in Los Angeles County, officials said Thursday.

UPDATE Friday 4:15 p.m.: The race for the 38th District is getting even closer as the next update as been released. Christy Smith is closing the gap with only 200 votes behind Dante Acosta.

Christy Smith —  68,305 votes — 49.9 percent

Dante Acosta — 68,518 votes — 50.1 percent

The two candidates are vying for the 38th District Assembly seat, which includes Santa Clarita, and there are only about 1,200 votes separating Acosta and Smith as of Thursday afternoon.

“We are cautiously optimistic that our lead will hold,” said Acosta. “Right now, we are just waiting and seeing what happens as more ballots roll in to be counted. I just wanted to thank the community for their support throughout my time in office and the campaign.”

This provision of the law recognizes the complexity of completing the ballot count and conducting a thorough audit of the election results to ensure accuracy, according to the Registrar’s office.

County Clerk Dean C. Logan reported a preliminary estimate of 984,000 outstanding ballots to be processed during the Official Election Canvass period.

“With tens of thousands of votes not yet counted, including late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots and provisional ballots, our race is too close to call,” said Smith. “Every vote counts, and once they are counted, we’ll know the outcome. Meantime, we have every reason to believe that this is far from over.”

The estimate includes provisional and vote-by-mail ballots collected at the polls, as well as vote-by-mail ballots received in the mail postmarked on or before Election Day

The total also includes ballots received through conditional voter registration. The department is set continue to accept additional vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day through Friday.

The 2018 Midterm Election marks the second time the candidates have faced off for AD-38. Acosta won the election in 2016, with Smith trailing by 6,000 votes, according to the Secretary of State.

The Los Angeles County Registrar has up to 30 days to certify the election on Nov. 6, and is expected to make updates every Tuesday and Friday as the deadline nears, said Brenda Duran, spokesperson.

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