Hundreds of ballots have been cast, with some voters no doubt punching Workman's name, she said.

If Workman simply told Swensen she was getting out of the race, and not handing in a doctor's note, then no ballots would be counted for Workman. The GOP mayoral slot would be empty, and Ivory's write-in ballots would have been counted accordingly, Swensen explained.

But with a new GOP nominee on the ballot, what is to be done with the ballots already cast for Workman? asked Swensen.

"I'd have to seek a legal opinion on what to do with them," Swensen said last week. "Can we count them for the (new) Republican candidate? They wanted to vote for a Republican, perhaps. But of course the new name was not on the (absentee) ballot."

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