Motts catches Torres-Walker in tied-up Antioch City Council District 1 race
Joy Motts and Tamisha Torres-Walker are tied in the Antioch City Council District 1 race as of Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022.
19 challenged ballots remain to be counted; if remains a tie the candidates would decide the tie breaker
By Allen D. Payton
As of Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, at 3:12:59 PM, the Contra Costa Elections Division website shows incumbent Antioch District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker and challenger Joy Motts are tied with 1,462 votes each. While the website shows there are still 1,900 ballots remaining to be counted in the county, according to Assistant Registrar of Voters Helen Nolan, “now, there are 19 challenged votes in the Antioch City Council District 1 race.”
“They’re either unsigned or the signatures don’t match,” she explained. “Every single person who has a challenged ballot has received a letter in order to cure that signature, either to provide a signature or provide their signature that matches what we have on file.”
“The important thing to remember is what we have on file is most likely what is on their driver’s license,” Nolan added.
“What the campaigns can do, and I believe are doing, are get copies of the challenged voters list and contact those voters,” she stated. The list is available but “it either has to be for education purposes or for elections purposes.”
Of the 1,900 ballots remaining in the county, 217 are listed as Provisional, which are described as “CVR (Conditional Voter Registration) Ballots In Review” and 1,683 listed as Other, meaning “Challenged VBM (Vote By Mail) Ballots” in which there was “No Signature” or the “Signature Does Not Match” what the Elections Division has on file. The challenged ballots in the Antioch race are among both types of remaining ballots.
According to the California Secretary of State’s website, “A ‘CVR voter’ is a person who, on Election Day or the fourteen (14) days immediately preceding Election Day, does both of the following:
- Delivers an executed affidavit of registration to the county elections official in order to register to vote in California for the first time, or re-register to vote in the same or a different county in California. The executed affidavit of registration can be submitted either in person at any permanent office of the county elections official, at any vote center or polling place, or at any satellite office designated by the county elections official or online through the Internet Web site of the Secretary of State.
- Requests a CVR ballot at any permanent office of the county elections official, at any vote center or polling place, or at any satellite office designated by the county elections official.”
Voters with challenged ballots have until Wednesday, Nov. 30 to cure their ballot with the county Elections Division office.
Tie-Breaker Decided by Candidates
Asked what happens if there’s a tie vote Nolan said the election would be decided by “whatever tie breaker the candidates agree to. It could be a flip of a coin, roll of the dice or rock, paper, scissors.”
the attachments to this post:
Motts 112322 results & Torres-Walker
