MARYSVILLE — With a 10-vote difference between its two candidates, the Marysville Fire District 12 Position 3 race is headed toward an automatic hand recount after the Snohomish County canvassing board certified the final Nov. 3 general election results on Nov. 24.

Iris Lilly leads Marilyn Sheldon 3,494 votes to 3,484 votes, with 69 write-in votes and 7,047 votes total cast in the race. The hand recount is scheduled to take place Dec. 3 and to last one day.

Lilly and Sheldon both described themselves as excited about the race and grateful to their supporters.

“Whichever way it turns out, the Marysville Fire District is getting someone who cares for them and will do a good job in supporting fire safety for Marysville and Tulalip,” Sheldon said. “I’ve had a unique opportunity to learn the process, and if I get the opportunity to serve, I’ll do the best that I can.”

Sheldon acknowledged that the fire district, like most businesses, has to look at tightening its budget in the current economy, but she warned that getting “too skinny” could compromise fire safety.

“It’s a bit stressful, because it’s so close now,” Lilly said Nov. 25. “I’m disappointed that we’ll have to wait a week before the recount can start.”

Lilly credited the media with covering the race well, and believes that her current lead might have been broader if she’d canvassed the area more heavily.

“If this goes in my favor, then I’ll do what I said I would in the voters pamphlet and maintain the district as best as I can,” Lilly said.

According to Snohomish County Elections Manager Garth Fell, Washington state law requires hand recounts when the final difference between candidates is less than one-quarter of 1 percent of the vote and fewer than 150 votes.

Of Snohomish County’s 371,915 eligible voters, 180,794 voters, or 48.6 percent voters, cast their ballots in the Nov. 3 general election.