Election workers across Utah County spent Tuesday evening sorting and counting thousands of votes for city council and mayoral candidates. After burning the midnight oil, the election results were finally made public.

In some races, such as the Provo citywide council seat, the margin of victory was more than a thousand votes. But in a handful of cases, fewer than 50 votes separate winner from loser. After absentee, mail in and provisional votes are counted before each city's canvass, the results of some close races may change.

"I don't want to be a sore loser," said Payson candidate Steve Hanson, "but I'm not ready to throw in the towel."

Hanson trailed fellow Payson City Council candidate Mike Hardy by only three votes after Tuesday's primaries.

In Draper, Nick Ramond and Paul Tonks thought they knew their place in the council race, with Ramond ahead by 29 votes. However, after Utah County votes were added to Salt Lake County's, Tonks was ahead by 50.

While the victory was a pleasant surprise for Tonks, Ramond said the outcome did not come as a shock to him.

"I was actually down the whole time," he said. "Draper city spans two counties. I was never really ahead."

The Utah County votes were actually posted first, Ramond said, so the total Wednesday morning was no different from Tuesday night.

While Tonks managed to jump ahead by Wednesday, the ride may not be over for these primary candidates and others who are neck and neck.

Provisional ballots are a product of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, so they're relatively new in the world of close city elections.

Sandy Hoffmann, the Utah County elections coordinator, said a voter would be allowed to cast a provisional ballot if they did not have an ID, if the voter was not on the official register of the precinct, or if an official challenged the eligibility of a voter.

After an election, each provisional vote is verified.

"If it was me, I would call the person who cast the vote and ask them to bring in an ID," Hoffmann said. "My motto is to err on the side of the voter."

Hoffmann said she has been through nine elections and has not yet seen provisional ballots play a major role.

"I've never had a race where we had to recount or where provisional ballots made a candidate," Hoffmann said. However, that may change this year.

Payson's race will almost certainly be decided by the provisional ballots that have yet to be counted, and many other contests remain in question as well.

In Utah County, provisional ballots may play a factor in a number of city council contests. Only 38 votes separate Jens P. Nielson and Alex Stone in Spanish Fork, but 99 provisional votes have yet to be counted.

In all, eight races have a gap of fewer than 50 votes. Draper, Eagle Mountain, Elk Ridge, Highland, Payson, Spanish Fork and Springville all had narrow victories for the candidates.

Provo's fourth district has a gap of only 16 that may be affected by additional votes.

Some of these areas do not have enough provisional votes to matter. In Payson's race, these votes can change several positions.

Of the six candidates who will move on to the general elections, the leader has just 96 more votes than Hanson.

Hoffmann said she received more than 30 pages of provisional ballots from Payson, and it is up to the city to verify whether each ballot meets the criteria to be counted.

Despite the number of extra votes, many of them already do not qualify.

"There was quite a stack that did not count," she said.

Hanson remains a contender in the close race for three city council seats. By the time all the votes are counted, he could be right back in the thick of it. Though Hanson said he respects the people's choice if he loses, he remains confident in his chances.

"I'm not taking down signs just yet," Hanson said. "With a three vote differential, it's hard to say [who will win]."

Hardy said he thinks he has about as good a chance to stay ahead as he is to fall behind, but he is anxious to hopefully move on to the general election after all the votes have been counted.

"With only three votes, anybody would be worried," he said. "It depends on how many absentee and provisional ballots there are."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.