Interest in possible recount for close Antioch elections faces high cost, but can be shared by multiple candidates
Posada increases her lead in Treasurer’s race to 20 votes
By Allen Payton
Discussions about a possible recount for the close races in the Antioch elections, including for City Treasurer, City Clerk and District 1 City Council hit somewhat of a brick wall, due to the cost.
Current City Treasurer Jim Davis, who was trailing by just 16 votes behind challenger Lauren Posada, told the Herald, last week that a recount requires a $25,000 deposit.
Asked to confirm that amount, how recounts work and if multiple candidates asked for a recount or if there was one for all races in Antioch could they share the costs, Contra Costa County Assistant Registrar of Voters Scott Konopasek said, “The $25,000 is what I’ve been putting out there. The deposit is a one-time cost and if multiple people ask for a recount, they can share that cost.”
“For Antioch, we would have to find 45,000 cards out of 2.7 million cards, spread out over 3,500 boxes,” he explained. “So, we can do it. We just don’t know how long it will take. That’s why we have to charge so much.”
“The beauty of doing a citywide recount is they don’t have to pick this precinct or that precinct. We will count all the precincts since we’ll have all the cards,” Konopasek further explained.
“Anything we don’t consume in labor costs will be refunded back,” he added.
Konopasek also confirmed that “if there is a change in who wins, the person who requested it gets a full refund.”
However, the only race that has a possibility of a change in winner is the treasurer’s race and $25,000 is more than both candidates spent on their campaigns, combined.
UPDATE: When asked what is the deadline for requesting a recount, Konopasek said, it’s five business days after certification. That clock begins ticking after the council accepts the results, which is expected at their Dec. 8th meeting. So, the final day to request a recount should be Tuesday, Dec. 15.
According to the Semi-Official Elections Update #5 posted today at 2:48 p.m., it shows Posada has increased her lead to 20 votes, with 21,136 to Davis’ 21,116 votes.
