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| Ferreira demands a recount By STEFANIE HOFFMAN--Half Moon Bay Review Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 5:50 PM PST It's not over 'till it's over, the old saying goes. And although Nov. 8 has come and gone, the election held that day appears far from over. Former City Councilman Mike Ferreira requested a recount at the eleventh hour Monday, filing just minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline for such challenges. "It's within the margins that there is a reasonable chance of change," said Ferreira. "If nothing else, we'll learn more about what has changed." In recent weeks it has seemed Half Moon Bay election results have changed daily. Election night tallies had Ferreira leading City Council hopeful Bonnie McClung by 59 votes. However, in an unprecedented turn of events, McClung surpassed Ferreira on the strength of provisional and absentee ballots counted after Nov. 8. McClung appeared to have a 14-vote victory when the election was certified Nov. 29. Ferreira said that the unprecedented turnabout and narrow margin gave him reason to believe that there could be a chance of a reversal. "It is the first time an election result was changed by absentees in Half Moon Bay," said Ferreira. "When the margin is this close, a lot of my supporters have been wanting to at least begin (a recount)." Ferreira said that he did not believe there were fraudulent errors on the part of elections officials, noting that he thought the election staff was "very competent." "They've been very good about providing data," he said. "It's more a matter of hope." Ferreira has retained Peter Bagatelos, a San Francisco attorney specializing in election matters. Bagatelos is the past president of the California Political Attorneys Association McClung said that she was not concerned that the recount would alter the election results. "It's part of the process; it was a close election," said McClung. "I have every confidence in the San Mateo County election process. I'm not particularly concerned there will be a reversal in the results." According to the California election code, any registered voter can request either a partial or complete recount, which can be conducted manually or by machine. Also, a voter can specify other detailed information, such as the order in which precincts are recounted. "The recount has to be done in mutual agreement with the requester," said David Tom, San Mateo County elections manager. "Depending on what the requester asks, the recount could be stopped in the middle, there's no way to know how long the process could take." Ferreira, who will meet with elections officials to determine the nature of the recount, said that he initially planned to begin a recount to determine the general direction of the votes, even if it wasn't completed. "If we don't find anything early, we would probably then just let it go and save everybody some further suspense," he said. "Only if there's a change ... would we be pushing on to a finish." According to the California code, an election cannot be reversed unless the recount is complete. Ferreira's request for a recount, which by law must begin no later than seven calendar days of the request, also does not prevent McClung from taking a seat with the City Council. McClung was scheduled to be sworn in after press time on Tuesday. San Mateo County elections officials contend that the chances of a recount overturning the certified results are slim. "Obviously part of our canvassing is to assure that the count is correct," said Tom. "Looking at our history, I have not heard any recount that has altered the results of an election." San Mateo County voters have called for only two recounts in the last 27 years. One, in 1978, was over the fate of a district Assembly seat. That race was reversed as a result of the recount. The most recent recount was in 1990. It was an unsuccessful attempt to change the result of the San Mateo County coroner race. Costs could be a potential deterrent, as a manual recount with a four-member recount board carries a price tag of about $708 a day, paid by the requester. Although a recount only re-tallies the votes, Tom said that part of the process is reviewing pertinent information, which can include names and addresses of voters. If it was determined that an individual voted illegally or was ineligible, a registered voter could contest the election by filing with the San Mateo County Superior Court. Tom said that penalties for an individual found guilty of fraud could range from fines to jail time. The election would not be reversed, however, unless a judge determined that that the illegitimate votes would have altered the outcome. "Maybe all we'll get out of this is a resolution of some questions," said Ferreira. "There's really a great deal of data resolution to be done to get us to better understand what we're looking at." |