Registrar: Finalizing Election Results May Take Several Weeks In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA --- Finalizing the tally from Tuesday's primary election may take several weeks, Riverside County Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer said today.

"By law, we have 28 days to certify the results," Spencer told City News Service. "Documenting some of the provisional and damaged ballots will take a while, probably a couple more weeks."

Most of the races appear to have been decided, though 92,000 vote-by- mail ballots, 28,300 provisional ballots and just over 8,100 damaged ballots have not been tabulated.

Spencer said half of the remaining absentee ballots will be counted before 6 p.m. Friday, when the next election update is scheduled.

The provisional and damaged ballots require additional scrutiny and will not be part of that tabulation.

According to Spencer, election night operations went relatively smoothly, but for unanticipated delays in posting initial results caused by late-arriving voters filling out the two-card ballots at the Office of the Registrar of Voters on Gateway Drive.

"That held us up so we couldn't post results until they had finished voting and were out of the lobby," Spencer said. "It was about a 20-minute delay."

The registrar's office began counting absentee ballots the week before Election Day, and it was those results that were posted first after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The county has had its share of Election Day challenges. In the June 2010 primary, 12,500 ballots were misplaced at a postal facility, triggering a lawsuit against the county that culminated in a judge ordering that the belatedly discovered ballots be counted, causing a nearly monthlong delay in completing the final tabulation.

In November 2010, a software glitch disrupted election-night postings for several hours. Roiled by complaints over how then-Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore was managing the office, several Riverside County supervisors publicly declared a need for change, immediately after which Dunmore was fired.

Former San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Kari Verjil replaced her. Verjil retired in early 2014, and Spencer succeeded her.

Also see:

• Assemblymember Mayes To Face Contender Rodriguez in November Election
• Homicide Prosecutor From Temecula Secures RivCo Judicial Seat
• REAL-TIME RESULTS: Riverside County's 2016 Primary Election Races
• Rep. Ruiz, Sen. Stone To Face Off In November Runoff For 36th-District Congress Seat

--City News Service/File photo