(Updated at 8:15 p.m.) School Board member Libby Garvey has been elected to the Arlington County Board after a special election that saw historically low voter turnout.

Garvey, a Democrat, received 49.2 percent of the vote to 43.5 percent for Republican Mark Kelly and 7.1 percent for Green Party Candidate Audrey Clement. Only 14,252 votes were recorded — a 11.5 percent turnout — in contrast to between 18,000 and 22,000 votes recorded in the previous five County Board special elections.

Though Garvey emerged the winner, the race was relatively close when compared to the usually lopsided general election results in favor of Democrats.

In Barcroft, a precinct in which the Columbia Pike streetcar is a hot-button issue, Kelly received 184 votes to 182 for Garvey and 22 for Clement. That compares to the 2010 general election, when Democrat Chris Zimmerman was elected with 58.3 percent of the vote to 34.3 percent for Kelly.