Final Votes In Jake Auchincloss, Jesse Mermell Race Being Counted Thursday

WELLESLEY (CBS) - The final votes will be counted Thursday in the race to fill Joe Kennedy's Massachusetts congressional seat. Jake Auchincloss leads Jesse Mermell by just 1,430 votes in the 4th Congressional District Democratic primary race.

Check: District 4 Primary Results

Clerks in Newton, Wellesley and Franklin will finish counting votes from Tuesday's election after a judge gave them extra time Wednesday.

Officials say the ballots were received by the Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline but were not tallied up by the end of the night because of the high volume of mailed in votes.

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin said about 1,450 ballots have yet to be counted. He wants town clerks to count them in public to keep the process transparent.

Auchincloss and Mermell rose to the top of a crowded field of Democratic candidates in the district that stretches from the Rhode Island border to the western suburbs of Boston.

The winner will face Republican Julie Hall, an Air Force veteran, in the November general election. She defeated David Rosa Tuesday night.