Measure H, a proposed quarter-cent Los Angeles County sales tax to fund anti-homelessness programs, maintained the two-thirds majority needed for approval in an updated ballot tally released Friday.

According to the updated figures, which added the results of nearly 68,000 newly counted vote-by-mail ballots from Tuesday’s election, Measure H has 67.62 percent of the vote, with 422,456 votes in favor and 202,283 in opposition, according to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office.

With all precincts reporting after Tuesday election, preliminary results released early Wednesday morning showed Measure H with 67.44 percent of the vote, just ahead of the two-thirds majority it needs for approval. But with nearly 295,000 vote-by-mail, provisional and questioned ballots still left to be counted, it was unclear if the measure would maintain the required percentage.

Another ballot-counting update is expected to be released Tuesday, with all ballots scheduled to be tallied by the end of the month.

If ultimately approved, the quarter-cent sales tax is projected to generate $355 million annually for 10 years to fund a variety of programs to combat homelessness.

— City News Service

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