Every vote will count, literally, as the excruciatingly close Democratic primary for Baltimore County executive got that much closer.

Jim Brochin received 723 more votes following the first round of absentee ballots counted yesterday, while John Olszewski Jr. picked up  419 votes, the county elections office announced.

That left Olszewski, the front runner in Tuesday’s primary, still ahead of Brochin, but by only 42 votes. Vicki Almond dropped 1,059 votes behind Olszewski following yesterday’s count.

There’s plenty of drama left in the three-way race, whose final weeks were characterized by vehement attacks by Almond allies on Brochin’s record and personal character, including by a group controlled by former county executive and current Pugh administration honcho James T. Smith Jr.

There’s plenty of drama left in the three-way race, whose final weeks were characterized by vehement attacks on Brochin’s record.

The second round of absentee ballots will be counted next Friday. These consist of ballots postmarked no later than midnight on Tuesday, the primary day, delivered to the elections office by the time of the count.

But the most significant event – likely to determine the outcome of the primary race – will take place next Thursday when provisional ballots are counted.

About 2,400 Democratic provisional ballots were cast as a result of a computer glitch at the Motor Vehicle Administration that left nearly 90,000 voters statewide in limbo.

According to MVA, the names of voters who changed their address or party affiliation by using the agency’s website or kiosks, without paying for other MVA services, were not recorded.

As a consequence, these voters had to use a provisional ballot to vote in the county and elsewhere in the state.

Whomever ultimately wins the Democratic nomination – Olszewski, Brochin or Almond – will face Republican Al Redmer Jr. in the November 6 general election.