The election was over, but then it wasn’t ...

First he was winning by153 votes. Then he won by three votes. Then he lost by 1 vote. And when it was over …

The election of 1986 proved quite the roller-coaster ride for Anne Arundel County’s Donald E. Lamb, running for House of Delegates in District 30.

When Election Night returns were tallied, Lamb, 36, an industrial consultant living in Cape St. Claire, seemed safely ahead in a close race for the district’s third seat — by 153 votes over his nearest rival, Republican Annapolis Alderman John R. Hammond.

But the absentee ballots would decidedly favor Hammond. When final results were announced10 days later, Lamb’s lead had shrunk to just 3 votes. Still, a victory seemed a victory.

Not so fast. Hammond argued that 24 absentee ballots disqualified by the county elections board should be included in the tally. A Circuit Court judge ruled that 12 of those 24 ballots were valid, bringing the tally to 12,903 votes for Hammond, 12,902 for Lamb. “We did it,” Hammond exclaimed. Again, not so fast. Lamb appealed the Circuit Court’s decision to the state’s highest court.

On Jan. 7, 1987, more than two months after the election and seven days before the General Assembly was to convene, the Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court erred in ordering the 12 disputed ballots be counted. That put Lamb back ahead by three votes.

And that’s where the count stayed.