To most people, election night is over on the first Tuesday in November. Often, and especially this year, it is not.
According to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, 1,473,869 votes were counted last Tuesday. However, due a number of reasons, including provisional ballots, absentees dropped off at polling places and mailed ballots arriving before the 8 p.m. deadline, 301,345 possible votes remain to be counted. Potentially, that will add over 20 percent to the totals.
Why potentially? Some of these votes will not pass muster. Signatures may not match, for example. Some may be damaged to the point where the intent of the voter cannot be determined.
However, this volume of votes can have a profound effect on what some people think are “done deals.” And, since no one knows where in the county these votes are coming from, the final impact will remain to be seen.
Let’s look at three local elections. In the race for the 66th Assembly District, David Hadley leads Al Muratsuchi by 1,527 votes out of 81,285 cast. However, if you assume that the percentage of outstanding votes is equally dispersed around the county, then a possible 16,637 votes are still to be counted.
In the race for the Beach Cities Health District, four votes separate the second from the third place finisher in a contest where the top two vote-getters win. Considering that about 14,500 people voted in this election, a possible 2,980 votes may be outstanding.
In Hermosa Beach, Proposition Q, which required 55 percent of the vote to pass, received 52.9%. But, 930 votes may yet be added to the total.
According to the ROV’s office, new numbers will be released as the canvass continues. There will be seven updates leading to the final certification 28 days after Election Day.
The seeming winners should not be measuring the offices for drapes quite yet.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE – 11/8
In the three contests:
66th AD: 6,532 votes added. Hadley’s lead grows from 2,329 to 2,493
Q: 229 votes added, Q’s percentage grows to 53.15%
BCHD: 1,249 votes added. Bholat retains first place by 294 votes (was 270). Edgerton’s lead over Chun grows from 4 to 48.
