The District 2 Island County commissioner’s race is heading toward a recount.

Democrat Angie Homola is leading by 76 votes over incumbent Republican Mac McDowell with roughly 700 ballots left to count.

Under state law, if the gap between two candidates is less than 2,000 votes — and less than one-half of 1 percent separate the candidates — there is a mandatory machine recount. If the gap is less than 150 votes — and less than one-fourth of 1 percent separate the candidates — there is a mandatory hand recount.

A total of 41,836 ballots have been counted so far. Currently, Homola and McDowell are separated by .20 percent of the vote.

Island County Deputy Auditor Michele Reagan said Monday that provisional ballots must still be verified and tabulated, as well as problem ballots that can be remedied and added to the count.

The race has tightened each time additional ballots have been counted since Election Day.

Homola initially led by 849 votes, then, by 630 votes. By Thursday, Nov. 6, her advantage had dropped to 383 votes.

The next vote tally is scheduled to be released at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12.