With a deadline looming for San Benito County voters to correct their damaged or challenged ballots in the June 2 election, “yes” votes maintain a slim majority on the measure to recall District 5 Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez.
The latest unofficial election results update from the registrar of voters office shows 1,307 voters, or 50.7%, voted “yes” to remove Velazquez from office. “No” votes account for 1,269 ballots so far. The results were last updated on the registrar’s website at 2pm June 18.
Left to be counted are 42 challenged ballots in District 5, according to Chief Deputy County Clerk Ana De Castro Maquiz. Of those, nine were submitted with no signatures; and on 33 of the challenged ballots, the signature does not match that contained in the registrar’s voter files.
Those 42 voters have until 5pm June 24 to contact the elections office and verify their ballots. Elections officials said they have attempted to contact the owners of all challenged ballots to let them know they can reconcile their vote.
The elections office plans to release another update on the vote count by 12pm June 26, then certify the results by 5pm the same day.
Candidates and measure proponents can request a ballot recount up to five days after the results are certified, elections officials said.
Countywide, there are another 165 damaged, unreadable or challenged ballots left to count or discard before the certification deadline. These uncounted ballots are not likely to influence the outcome of any other local races in the June 2 primary election.
