A hand recount, that took a week to complete, shows that the
November election for the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District
board indeed ended in a tie.
Hollister – A hand recount, that took a week to complete, shows that the November election for the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District board indeed ended in a tie.
The recount began last Monday after Rachel Ponce, who was unseated after eight years on the board, requested a hand recount citing possible errors in the original tally. Ponce tied with Sylvia Rios Metcalf, another school board incumbent, in the Nov. 2 election. The tie was broken by picking a name out of a basket, a procedure that is part of the elections code and used in place of an expensive run-off election. Metcalf’s name was chosen.
The recount had to be done in San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties because students from all three counties attend Aromas-San Juan schools.
After a week of laborious hand counting and at least $2,000 in fees, paid for by Ponce, the recount resulted in the same outcome – a tie. Numbers in Santa Cruz and San Benito recounts remained the same and the only difference was in Monterey County– where both Ponce and Metcalf lost one vote each.
The discrepancy between the machine-tabulated votes and the hand-counted ones was most likely caused by a crease in the ballot that a machine interpreted as an arrow, said Tony Anchudo, head elections official in Monterey County. Beginning this year, Monterey County switched from the usual fill-in the bubble ballots to the Op – Tech system, in which voters must draw arrows to names of candidates they are selecting.
“As wonderful as computers and tabulators are, they sometimes make mistakes,” said Anchundo. He also added that a hand count is still the most accurate way to count votes.
The recount settles the dispute over the third open seat on the Aromas-San Juan School Board, which is now occupied by Metcalf. Ponce had said she thought the tie “suspicious” and was requesting a recount to double check the results.
But after being informed of the results, Ponce said she was still supportive of Metcalf and wished her only the best in her tenure as a school trustee.
“Understandably, I had hoped that it would be different,” she said. “But I know she will continue working just as hard to keep the district going in the same direction.”
If the recount had showed a difference of even one vote extra in favor of Ponce, Metcalf would have had to step down from her position, said John Hodges, head elections official for San Benito County. Anchundo, the Monterey County elections official, said the vote and subsequent recount showed that individual votes matter more than people realize.
“People say that their votes don’t matter,” said Anchundo, “But here is a perfect example of where one vote could have made a difference.”
Karina Ioffee covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or ki*****@fr***********.com
