“Passing of the Gavel” ceremony for 2023 Board Officers; Colin Coffey who represents Antioch ends term as president

By Dave Mason, Public Information Supervisor, Public Affairs, East Bay Regional Park District

The East Bay Regional Park District held a swearing-in ceremony for four newly elected Board members during its January 17, 2023 Board of Directors meeting with Congressman Mark DeSaulnier and one of the District’s longest serving employees delivering the oaths of office.

New Directors Olivia Sanwong for Ward 5 and John Mercurio for Ward 6, along with Director Colin Coffey in his second term representing Ward 7 – which includes Antioch – were sworn in by Congressman Mark DeSaulnier who was also recognized for his many contributions to the Park District. Director Dennis Waespi in his third term for Ward 3 was sworn in by Karen McClendon, a Park District employee with over 38 years of service who remains a stalwart in the District.

In a ceremonial “passing of the gavel”, outgoing Board President Coffey handed the leadership role to the new Board President, Director Waespi. President Waespi and the Board of Directors expressed appreciation to Director Coffey for his leadership over the past year. Waespi was elected to the Board in 2014 and served as board president in 2018.

“I am honored to serve as the Board President for 2023,” said new Board President Dennis Waespi. “As Board President, I intend to continue advancing the Park District’s mission of providing parks, shorelines, and trails for safe and healthful recreation and environmental education, while preserving natural wildlife habitat and natural and cultural resources.”

The Board officers named for 2023 are Vice President Elizabeth Echols, Treasurer Ellen Corbett, and Secretary Dee Rosario.

For information about the East Bay Regional Park District, visit ebparks.org. To learn more about its Board of Directors, visit www.ebparks.org/board-and-staff/board.

The East Bay Regional Park District is the largest regional park system in the nation, comprising 73 parks, 55 miles of shoreline, and over 1,300 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and environmental education. The Park District receives more than 25 million visits annually throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Zepeda’s election in Richmond council race also confirmed, Butt’s campaign files precursor to possible lawsuit but dropped it

By Chris Campos, Editor, ThePress.net

Republished with permission.

MARTINEZ—Tamisha Torres-Walker, running for re-election for the Antioch City Council District 1 seat, came ahead by 3 votes on Nov. 8 beating challenger Joy Motts. After a lengthy and expensive recount Torres-Walker’s lead increased by one vote, according to the county elections office.

Allen Payton, publisher of the Antioch Herald but “acting as a resident and voter in the city,” requested the recount on Motts’ behalf. It’s been a costly exercise. Asked what the final price was Motts responded, “about $30,000.”

She was glad she went through the process. “With just a three vote difference I think it makes sense to go forward and the community agreed. I had support to pay for this.”

The results of the recount were announced Friday by County Clerk Deborah Cooper. The total for Motts dropped by one vote while Torres-Walker’s vote total didn’t change.

Asked for her thoughts Torres-Walker said, “I’m just excited for this to finally be over and celebrate this win. I’ve just been waiting for this process.  I’m going to go home and celebrate the holidays with my family and look forward to serving Antioch on the city council for the next four years.”

Payton, publisher of the Antioch Herald, offered to help fundraising and help cover the costs of the recount. Motts stated earlier on her Facebook account, “We have found out today that unfortunately, the County is charging upwards of $38,500 for this recount, an exorbitant amount of money. Nevertheless, we are moving forward to try and raise the necessary funds. If you would like to support my efforts for a full recount, you can donate on my website at joymotts.org”

Payton said Friday, “about $20,000 total was raised by Mott’s campaign, most through her website, and spent as of today, including another $2,080 she paid today to the Contra Costa County Elections and $6,000 for elections attorney Chris Schweickert of Seto, Wood & Schweickert in Pleasant Hill for yesterday and today.”

On the first day of the recount 8 challenged vote-by-mail ballots and 4 challenged provisional ballots in the District 1 race were reviewed by Motts and Payton, who requested the recount on her behalf the previous week. It occurred at the Contra Costa County Clerk’s Office Elections Division office, with Deputy Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong, two elections office staff members as well as Torres-Walker and campaign consultant Melody Howe Weintraub monitoring the ballot count.

Of the ballots reviewed that day, two ballots were challenged by Motts and Payton for further review by Gong who allowed one to be counted and one was rejected.

A simultaneous recount is under way for the Andrew Butt campaign in Richmond’s District 2 race which ended in a tie and was broken last week by the drawing of an envelope out of a shopping bag. The results of the recount reduced Butt’s vote total by three and winner Cesar Zepeda’s vote count remaining the same.

As the challenge to those few ballots was transpiring, county elections staff were in the warehouse about a block away, retrieving 1,700 boxes of ballots in which the staff members have determined there are ballots for both the Antioch and Richmond elections. Those ballots were already put through the counting machines and included in the total vote count.

During a tour of the warehouse on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Elections Services Manager Travis Ebbert was asked if ballots could be stuck together and scanned through the machine. He responded it could happen, but there are checks and balances.

“There are ways that ballots get scanned and double scanned. The scanners are high speed. They go really fast,” Ebbert explained. “By the time the first ballot is processed the seventh ballot is being imaged. There are checks for that. There’s human intervention and a second person there.”

“There’s potential for human error out of the 1.5 million ballot pages (submitted in the county during the November election),” he continued. “In the 1% manual count there were no double scans. This was the smoothest scan with the least human intervention.”

Helen Nolan, the assistant registrar of Contra Costa County, said later, “Thank you to everyone who came to observe and be a part of the recount process today. I appreciate your patience; we know it’s not always exciting but it’s an important part of our democracy and protecting the vote!”

During an interview with a reporter for NBC Bay Area Motts said, “This was not the methodology my campaign asked for. We wanted them to look at all the ballots in all the boxes. But to do that would be an exorbitant amount of money. When they decided to do this targeted search we didn’t expect there would be much of a change.

“The costs were split with the Butt campaign, so the total was $60,000 for both recounts,” she continued. “I think with elections this close they should automatically do a recount. As we saw today some ballots were adjudicated. I think it’s important that the county elections (office) does that and we as citizens support that.”

On Thursday Butt’s campaign filed the required paperwork on Thursday for a potential lawsuit challenging the election results but chose to drop it.

“What I filed on Thursday was an election contest under election code,” Daniel said, “It’s been muted by this recount result. It challenges specifically the two votes in the marina precinct. You also have to show it will change the outcome of the election. Now that Cesar has won by three votes, we’re dropping it. I’m keeping the door open to sue the city because the district map fails all criteria. But it won’t overturn the results of this election.”

“Both these candidates did the right thing in spite of opposition. They fought the good fight. But it’s worth looking into reducing the costs for recounts and requiring automatic recounts in close races,” he added.

Contra Costa County Elections Division staff provided the following information Friday evening:

Recount Results:
Antioch City Council District 1 Recount ANTIOCH Final Results by Precinct O&U
Tamisha Torres-Walker 1,467
Joy Motts 1,463
Diane Gibson-Gray 1,338

Richmond City Council District 2 Recount RICHMOND Final Results by Precinct
Andrew Butt 1,918
Cesar Zepeda 1,921

“These close races should remind voters how important every single vote is. I have been working for the Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department for 33 years and recounts have been extremely rare.” said Cooper. “Our elections team once again performed above and beyond, by recounting not one, but two city council races over the course of the past week and a half. These recounts confirmed the integrity of the elections through a transparent audit process.”

The final official report for this election is posted on the Contra Costa County Elections website and can be found at www.contracostavote.gov.

Allen D. Payton contributed to the Richmond recount portion of this report.

After giving impassioned speech of his accomplishments Board Vice President Hernandez passed over, but gets $1,200 he requested to participate in Latino water policy program on 4-1 vote

New Trustee Lathan unanimously elected board’s new vice president; given official oath on Monday by Mayor Thorpe

By Allen D. Payton

Re-elected Antioch School Board Trustee Mary Rocha who now represents Area 5 and new Area 2 Trustee Dr. Jag Lathan were given their oaths of office during the board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Lathan’s was ceremonial as, according to a tweet by Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe, he gave the official oath of office to her on Monday, Dec. 12 with Area 1 Trustee and then-Board Vice President Antonio Hernandez in attendance.

During the reorganization of the board, Area 3 Trustee Dr. Clyde Lewis was elected board president on a 3-2 vote. Lathan and Hernandez voted no. Prior to the vote the Area 1 trustee made an impassioned speech pleading with his colleagues to elect him president but was bypassed for the position. Hernandez is the third board vice president who has been bypassed for the presidency in the past several years, including former Trustees Debra Vinson and Crystal Sawyer-White, whom the board bypassed twice.

When the item of reorganizing the board came up on the agenda, Rocha nominated Lewis to be board president saying, “since he was passed over last time under concerns of business affiliations so, at this time I feel it’s proper he continue in that position.” Last year, when then-Board Vice President Lewis declined to be nominated for the presidency citing “some family challenges” and “family caregiving that came up.” Hernandez then offered himself for the position that night, but instead, Area 4 Trustee Gary Hack was elected board president, also on a split, 3-2 vote and Hernandez was elected vice president on a 5-0 vote.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Hack seconded Rocha’s motion. During discussion Lathan said, “Considering Vice President Hernandez is currently in the position it feels like a good succession plan would be to continue with that up to presidency.”

Hernandez’s Pleas for Presidency Ignored

“For the same reasons, last year I offered to be, wanted to be president and I was told I didn’t have enough experience,” Hernandez said. “So, I did exactly that…I filled in the role of vice president. I got my Masters in Governance from the California School Boards Assocation. I’ve also done a lot of work on the school board such as passing, putting forth the equity policy. I worked on the student board member policy, crafting that policy, putting forward the trauma and grief response committee. I worked on creating inclusive language in our policies. I’ve worked on putting forward actual ideas to make more inclusive LGBTQ policies and initiatives. I’ve spoken at events…I’ve worked to elevate the discourse here,  in this district as many of you have seen the way that I make sure we’re elevating and talking about data-driven initiatives, making sure that we’re doing everything that we can and working to improve as a district and building upon the work that we’re doing.”

“I was recently elected as a WELL Fellow, for a water policy fellowship, where I competed against elected officials across the state and was selected for this prestigious fellowship,” he continued. “I’ve served on boards before and I know I can do the work, here,”

“What message are we sending to our students when that was the reasoning why I was not selected as board president?” Hernandez asked. “I went out. I did the work. I’m going to be here to fight for students, plain and simple.”
“When we talk about vulnerable students, talk about families that are struggling, that was me in school, that was my family,” he stated. “My family’s here, tonight. They’ve had those experiences, so, they’ve worked those service jobs.”

“What message are we sending to students if we don’t select me as board president?” Hernandez asked, again. “Because I did the work. I put it forward and I’m ready to serve this school district and that’s a message we need to be sending out to our students.”

“Now, everyone here is happy to make whatever decisions they want to make,” he continued. “But I needed that message to be out there, and I need people to understand what the decisions we make reflect on this school district.”

Lewis Elected President on 3-2 Vote

Ignoring Hernandez’s pleas, Rocha called for action to be taken on the motion.

Hack then asked for the vote, “one by one”.

When Lathan was called upon to vote she responded, “Trustee Vice President Hernandez”.

She was corrected by district staff and Hack. “You vote on the motion.”

“Oh, no,” Lathan said.

Lewis and Rocha each voted yes, followed by Hernandez voting no, and Hack voting yes, and the motion passed on a 3-2 vote.

Hernandez has been an ally of Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe who backed Rocha’s opponent, Dominique King, in the November election.

After the meeting Lewis said, “I felt like some of the comments tonight were directed at me and that’s fine. I understand. I think to be on the board there needs to be a certain caliber of person and the members are all high caliber. I look forward to working with the entire board to serve the students, their parents, the faculty, staff and community.”

Lathan Elected Board VP on 5-0 Vote

The election for board vice president was next with Hernandez nominating Lathan saying, “I think she brings the most experience we’ve ever had on this board when it comes to the background of education. She has experience both as a teacher, principal, administrative and on the county Board of Education. I think she will make a fantastic addition to this team and will continue to elevate the discourse in this school district.”

Rocha seconded the motion and without any discussion it passed 5-0 with all trustees voting yes.

“Congratulations to the two of you,” Hack said.

After explaining the role, Hernandez was then re-elected as the district’s Liaison to the County School Boards Association on 5-0 vote following the motion by Hack and seconded by Rocha.

$1,200 Request by Hernandez for Latino Water Policy Program Approved on 4-1 Vote

Later in the meeting, Hernandez was successful in receiving a $1,200 increase in his individual Board Trustee Training Allocation budget. As previously reported, the funds are to cover the costs for his participation in Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL) UnTapped Fellowship Program, a water policy program for Latino elected officials, he mentioned earlier as one of his accomplishments. Hernandez was selected as part of the 2023 class.

“They only ever select a handful of school board trustees,” he argued. “It’s easy for people to think that water policy only belongs in the hands of the city. But we are a large organization and school districts are large organizations that use water. The health and safety of our water is something that students interact with all the time…I view education, environment and all these things as all interconnected into the health of our students.”

Hernandez asked the board for the one-time increase over and above the $3,000 they each receive, “so I can continue in serving as a role model for our students as a lifelong learner.”

Rocha challenged the additional funds for Hernandez saying, “I want to congratulate you…you’ve been selected to this…fellowship. But water policy is not an educational thing that we are dealing with and I don’t know that I can support taxpayers’ money going toward to educate you on water policy that is not school education.”

“I’m going to be voting against it,” she added.

“I can’t make it any clearer how connected water is to education than what I did before,” Hernandez responded.

With no additional questions or comments from the other trustees, on a motion by Hernandez and seconded by Lewis, the additional funds were approved on a 4-1 vote with Rocha the sole no vote.

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Hernandez said following the vote.

After the meeting Lewis was asked why he voted for the additional training funds requested by Hernandez. The new board president said, “Because we don’t have a policy about how we use our funds. I’m going to bring to the board a discussion of how we use Trustee Training Allocation budget funds.”

 

Re-elected Rocha and newcomer Lathan

Hernandez requests $1,200 to participate in Latino officials’ water policy program

By Allen D. Payton

The winners of the Areas 2 and 5 Antioch School Board races in the November election will be given their oaths of office, tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Re-elected Trustee Mary Rocha who will know represent Area 5 and new Trustee Dr. Jaguanana “Jag” Lathan, who ran unopposed in Area 2 will be sworn in at 6:20 p.m. in the District Office Board Room at 510 G Street in Antioch.

That will be followed by a Closed Session at 6:45 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. During the regular meeting the board will choose a new president and vice president for the coming year. The board will also vote to elect one of their members as Liaison to the Contra Costa County School Boards Association.

Hernandez Requests Funds to Attend Latino Officials Water Conference

Among the various items for possible action, at the request of Area 1 Trustee Antonio Hernandez, under Item 11.A. the board will consider a one-time increase of $1,200 to his Board Trustee Training Allocation budget. It’s to cover the costs for Hernandez to participate in the WELL UnTapped Fellowship Program, a water policy program for Latino elected officials. Hernandez was selected as part of the 2023 cohort.

According to the organization’s website, latinosforwater.org, “Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL) was founded in 2012 with the goal of strengthening the voice of local Latino leaders, ensuring they have context for and participation in water policy decisions.”

The website also explains, “WELL UnTapped is a selective, six-month program for local elected leaders aimed at helping participants make an impact on California water policy while addressing individual community water challenges.”

As a councilmember in 2019, Mayor Lamar Thorpe attended the WELL UnTapped fellowship academy in Los Angeles. In a Jan.11, 2019 post on is official Facebook page, he posted a video and wrote, “Road trip! Headed to WELL UnTapped in LA for first fellowship academy weekend. Join me! Let’s talk about AGUA! Stopped at Caistaic Lake 1 of 3 terminals branches of the Cal Water Aqueduct, which starts in East County. This is it where Delta water ends up!”

WELL’s 11th Annual Statewide Conference will be held March 31 and April 1, 2023, at the Aritel Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Van Nuys, CA.

When asked about Hernandez’s request Rocha responded, “I am bringing that up. The big funder of WELLS is the Southern California water company that is always after our water. Of the cohort composition, 14 are mayors or city council members, he is only one of three school board members and the only one from the north. I attended two of their workshops when I was an elected council member. WELL paid for it.”

She agreed that it’s appropriate for a council member to participate and attend as water is an issue city councils deal with responding, “Exactly.”

“I will be questioning his request since he is already over his budget of $3,000 a year,” Rocha added.

Rocha is correct as one of the WELL Associate Members who have contributed $10,000 to $25,000 annually to the organization is The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California which is a big supporter of the Delta tunnel (Conveyance project) that will move water from Northern California to the south.

See the complete meeting agenda. The meeting can also be viewed on the District’s YouTube Channel.

 

She, Wilson given oaths of office Tuesday night

By Allen D. Payton

Following the oaths of office for District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker and District 4 Councilwoman Monica Wilson, during the Antioch City Council meeting Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Torres-Walker was appointed the city’s next mayor pro tem. For now, pending the outcome of the ballot recount in the District 1 election which began Tuesday morning, she will serve in the position for the coming year.

Even though Wilson had a higher percent of the vote, she has previously served as mayor pro tem and according to city ordinance, she can’t serve in the position again until all other council members have had the opportunity.

“I’m very proud of you,” Mayor Lamar Thorpe said to Torres-Walker.

Then, on a motion by District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock and seconded by outgoing Mayor Pro Tem and District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica the council voted 5-0 to appoint her. The mayor pro tem serves in the place of the mayor when absent from meetings or out of town. Torres-Walker will also serve as the alternate to Thorpe at the monthly Mayor’s Conference.

 

Initial cost estimate of $38,500 per may be reduced by work on both

Could take 6 to 7 days

Herald publisher makes request on behalf of Motts in Antioch race

By Dawn Kruger, Civic Outreach and Engagement Specialist

The County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department has received two recount requests for races in the November 8, 2022, General Election. One request is for the Antioch District 1 City Council race in which Tamisha Torres-Walker won over Joy Motts by three votes and the second is for the Richmond District 2 City Council race, which ended in a tie between Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda. Today, Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for requesting a recount.

In California, any voter may request a recount. For single-county races, a request for recount must be made within five days of the county canvass/certification. No reason is required.

“Our office conducted expanded manual tally audits for these two close races, which were attended by the affected candidates and media representatives. These audits were done above and beyond the state requirements and at the County Elections Division’s cost. Our staff has done an excellent job and I am confident in their work. These requests are within the rules for recounts,” said Debi Cooper, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar. “As per state law, the requestor of the recount must pay the cost for the recount. The cost is determined based on the steps involved in the recount, including the sorting out of the physical paper ballots. Our office is preparing estimated costs for the requestors based on the type of recount that have been requested.”

On Monday night, Allen Payton, Antioch resident and publisher of the Antioch Herald and Contra Costa Herald, submitted a request for a hand recount of the ballots on behalf of candidate Joy Motts who lost to incumbent Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker. The letter was received by the elections staff Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, according to outgoing Richmond Mayor Tom Butt, the father of Andrew Butt who lost yesterday’s tiebreaker, the Butt campaign requested a hand recount of the ballots in that race.

The hand count by elections staff, last Thursday, was done using copies of images of the ballots that had been scanned through the machines. (See related articles here and here)

Once the costs are provided to the requestor, the recount will begin after payment for the first day’s processing is received. The recount must begin within 7 days of the official request. California law states that costs paid by the requestor are to be refunded if the recount changes the outcome of the election in favor of the requestor. The requestor is responsible for all costs of the recount. If the outcome does not change, the requestor may receive a refund if the amount paid was greater than the actual cost of the recount.

If the recount is conducted with the original paper ballots, the recount is expected to take 6-7 days. Conducting parallel recounts for two districts may save some shared costs but will take longer than the process for a single jurisdiction.

According to Tommy Gong, Deputy Clerk-Recorder, the initial estimate is $38,500 for each recount, as staff has to go to the warehouse, use a forklift and retrieve the boxes of ballots. That’s because, according to Helen Nolan, Assistant Registrar of Voters, the ballots are no longer stored by precinct but as they arrive in the Elections office. They will have to pull the 4,500 ballots from the estimated 1.3 million ballot pages submitted in the county during the November election. Each ballot included four pages, she added.

Wong estimated the sorting would take five days and recounting one day. However, he explained that they know how many ballots for each race and the results of the votes on those ballots that are in each box. Gong said the price for each recount could be reduced by sharing in the cost of retrieving and sorting the ballots. He also said he would also be checking with the Secretary of State’s office, today to determine if the recount could be done box by box in the warehouse which could further reduce the costs. Gong said he will know if that’s allowable Wednesday afternoon.

More information on recounts is available on the Secretary of State’s website here. You can also reach out to the Elections Division at 925-335-7800.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

8 of the challenged ballots were not cured; results now certified; possible recount could be costly

“I don’t think I can do this without you…I want to partner with you” – Torres-Walker to Motts

By Allen D. Payton

After waiting weeks for the ballot counting to be completed, including a hand count, a change in the lead then a tie as of last Wednesday, Nov. 23, and 19 challenged ballots that required curing, the Antioch City Council race in District 1 has been decided. Incumbent Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker beat challenger and former Councilwoman Jot Motts by just three votes. The final results according to the Contra Costa County Elections Division Torres-Walker ends with 1,467 or 34.36% and Motts has 1,464 votes or 34.29 percent of the vote. Diane Gibson-Gray ended the race with 1,339 votes or 31.26% to round out the close contest.

Following the hand count of the ballots at the county elections office on Thursday, the two candidates who were waiting and watching the hand count at the county elections office, along with one supporter, each, made brief comments, hugged and spoke with each other.

“It’s been a long haul,” Torres-Walker said with a laugh.

Speaking with Motts she said, “I don’t think I can do this without you. You love Antioch and I want to partner with you. I don’t know what people downtown want. You do. I want you to tell me, advise me and I want to work with you.”

A disappointed Motts agreed to then said about the election results and the hand ballot count, “I really appreciate they did this, that they took the extra time.”

Possible Recount Could Be Costly, 8 Challenged Ballots Not Cured

Regarding questions and discussions by some Antioch residents and others of a recount with the results so close, Assistant Registrar of Voters Helen Nolan said, “Anyone can ask for a recount, but they have to be willing to front the money to pay for it. The daily cost is anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000. It depends on the method the requester wants.”

“Yesterday, we used printed images of every ballot,” she explained. “A recount would not be dissimilar. We could use the images of the ballots which would take less time and cost less. The most expensive way and would take the longest time is if we have to pull the paper ballots from the stored ballots. That’s because we don’t store them by precinct anymore. They’re stored in batches as they came in. So, among the 1.3 million ballot pages from this election we’d have to find 4,500 ballots with the District 1 election votes on them.”

“If the election is overturned, they receive a refund,” she added.

Asked what difference another hand ballot count would make Nolan responded, “It wouldn’t. We’d be looking at the same ballots as we did, yesterday.”

However, during Thursday’s hand count the elections staff used copies of images of the ballots that had been scanned into the machines, not the actual ballots.

Elections Division Voting Systems Manager Travis Ebbert showed those watching yesterday’s count “three ballots that were adjudicated and required a human to make the decision,” Nolan explained. “We separate them by votes and anything you can’t tell they’re adjudicated and the vote determined. The two included votes for both candidates but the person had marked it out. That removed one vote each. The third one was either an overvote or it could have been a vote for either candidate and Tamisha still wins.”

“We went through all the ballots including the 11 out of the 19 challenged ballots were cured since Nov. 23,” she continued. “The other eight ballots remain challenged.”

“We didn’t get a letter back and we weren’t able to cure them,” Nolan stated. “Those were not counted, nor will those ballots be opened during a recount.”

“We’re required to keep everything for this election for 22 months,” she shared.

Asked about the latest vote totals on the Elections Division website Nolan said, “Those are the final numbers. We will be certifying them, today. But those numbers will not change.”

Results Certified

In a press release Friday afternoon, it was announced that Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar Debi Cooper certified the results of the November 8, 2022 General Election today.

“Our elections team has once again administered an accurate, transparent, safe and secure election for Contra Costa County.  This team of expert staff made a very complicated and technical process look easy – it isn’t,” Cooper said. “I am proud of this talented group, who make democracy happen for Contra Costa voters and provide incredible service.  This includes: permanent staff, temporary workers, poll workers, and volunteers. I want to thank each of them for their hard work and civic service.  It is my honor and privilege to certify my last election as the head of this department.”

The Elections Division conducted the canvass to complete the official count of all qualified ballots and to perform audits to verify the tabulation equipment performed as intended.

The purpose of the canvass accomplishes four primary tasks: ensuring that every eligible ballot is counted, that voters only voted once, that proper procedures were followed, and that the vote tabulation system counted ballots properly.

The final turnout for this Primary Election totaled 394,153 ballots cast, representing 56.15% of the 701,969 registered voters of Contra Costa County.

The final official report for this election is now posted on the Contra Costa County Elections website at www.contracostavote.gov.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.”