- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Registrar of Voters Office reports on fire and water district elections; official canvas under way
On Tuesday the general district election was held to fill three seats on the fire district board and two seats on the water district board.
In the fire district election, the initial results showed Felicia Bridges topping the five-person field, with 824 votes, or 22.9 percent, followed by John “JT” Traller with 787 votes, 21.9 percent; Paul Lauenroth, 743 votes, 20.6 percent; Herbert Colt, 643 votes, 17.9 percent; and Justin Molloy, 604 votes, 16.8 percent.
The top three vote-getters win the seats.
In the race for the water district board, which has two available seats, Rich Simondi received 38 votes, or 40.9 percent, followed by Jackie Meri, 28 votes, 30.1 percent; and Shirley Dutcher, 26 votes, 28 percent.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said the results aren’t yet final, as she and her staff are continuing the count.
She said that as of Thursday there were 208 ballots that remained to be counted, including 66 vote-by-mail, or absentee, ballots dropped off at the polls and the registrar’s office counter on Election Day; 79 absentee ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 7; 54 vote-by-mail ballots that require further review for various reasons; and nine provisional ballots.
Fridley said there are nine vote-by-mail ballots for the Upper Lake County Water District Board race, and 190 vote-by-mail and nine provisional ballots for the Kelseyville Fire Protection District election.
Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Nov. 7 but could still be received by Monday, Nov. 13, Fridley said.
She also reported that provisional ballots and absentee ballots requiring further review may be entirely counted, partially counted or not counted at all.
Fridley and her staff are now working on the official canvass, which is part of the process of certifying the election’s final results. The canvass is expected to be done by Nov. 20.
Some of the tasks that Fridley said are to be completed included a 1-percent manual count on Wednesday, Nov. 15; counting the remaining ballots prior to certifying the election results, with a Nov. 20 target date; delivering certificates of election to those who win seats; and taking the final results to the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 28.
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