The Fresno Teachers Association has kept its sitting president in office -- but only by two votes.

After a vote count Monday night, Eva Ruiz emerged with 453 votes to challenger Mai Summer Vue's 451 votes.

A total of 929 ballots were cast, but 904 were counted as legal ballots.

The California Teachers Association election committee hand-counted the votes. This was the fourth election for the office since April.

Ruiz and Vue have been fighting over who will lead the 3,000-plus member union since an election in April, when neither emerged as the clear-cut winner. FTA bylaws require the winner to have at least 50% of the votes, plus one.

Vue, a fourth-grade teacher, won the first runoff election in May, but Ruiz challenged the results. Ruiz won a second runoff election in July, but Vue challenged the results.

Vue will have 10 days to contest Monday's election. On Tuesday, she said there are grounds for a challenge. "But I don't know if I want to drag our members through another election," she said.

Vue said when the CTA first mailed ballots, some were missing due to a machinery malfunction, and return envelopes were missing when a second set of ballots was sent out.

Ruiz said it would be Vue's prerogative to contest, but she thought her concerns had been addressed by the CTA.