Controversy and threat of court challenges have clouded the recount efforts in the runoff race for Rep. Anna Eschoo’s vacated congressional seat. But election officials say that despite the challenges, they’re on track to complete the recount by the end of the week.
The recount is one of the most anticipated in recent Bay Area history, after Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and Rep. Evan Low tied for second place in the 16th District Congressional Primary.
The district has hundreds of thousands of voters that cross San Mateo and Santa Clara countries. Election officials in both counties have said they’re close to finalizing the recount.
“With any degree of luck, we’ll complete the scanning tomorrow,” said San Mateo County Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry. “And we should have the final numbers within the next day or so.”
Election workers in both counties are working daily to sort and send ballots for rescanning and machine counts. Officials are also reviewing any challenges brought by observers who have been looking over their shoulders through the whole process.
Really, they’re challenging the envelopes, not the ballots, at this stage of the game,” Irizarry said. “And those are usually with no signatures, the signature doesn’t match or they got here late. So those are the ones that are really being focused on.”
So far, no ballots have been tossed out in San Mateo County. But a handful are under review.
It’s been the same in Santa Clara County.
“They’re looking over our shoulders and making sure everything is done correctly,” said the county’s Associate Communications Officer Steve Goltiao. “We’re fine with that, because we want to make sure that every vote counts.”
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Because the district spans two counties, the California Secretary of State will have to certify the final vote after receiving numbers from both counties. That could happen as soon as Friday night.
