The Fresno County ballot initiative that would expedite government privatization, Measure O, remains too close to call. And it may be weeks before a final verdict is reached.

In the vote count released Wednesday, eight days after the election, the measure was trailing by just over one percentage point: 49.3% voting yes and 50.7% voting no.

With 48,000 county ballots yet to be tallied -- and 2,510 votes separating Measure O's yeses and nos -- the contest still could go either way.

The initiative is the only major contest in Fresno County that hasn't been called, though a handful of smaller races remain close.

County Registrar of Voters Brandi Orth said her office is hustling to finish the count: "We're working overtime and we're working the weekends."

Nearly 210,000 ballots have been processed. The unprocessed ones are equally split between mail ballots and provisional ballots. Provisional ballots, which are filled out when a voter's eligibility is in question, take longer to tally.

Orth said she couldn't speculate on when she would finish the count, though she said she would meet the state deadline of Dec. 4.

Several elections remain unsettled, including the Coalinga City Council race and school board races in Clovis Unified, Central Unified and Mendota Unified.

In Orange Cove, Victor Lopez and Gilbert Garcia remained comfortably ahead in their pursuit of two open council seats. The recall efforts on the Orange Cove City Council appear to be headed for defeat.

Vote counting continues in other parts of the Valley as well.

Tulare County has processed about 73,000 ballots with about 18,000 to go. Madera County reports about 7,000 unprocessed ballots and Kings County reports nearly 2,000.