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San Mateo County voters may have to wait several more days for answers in close races after an influx of mail ballots and ballots with unclear markings slowed down the election-night count.
The county’s election night results, finalized at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, included all votes cast at vote centers and mail ballots received through Oct. 30, rather than Nov. 1 as expected. Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry said that the volume of ballots arriving in the final days, combined with the need for additional review of some ballots, slowed processing.
The count left two close contests unresolved in Menlo Park on Wednesday. Measure P, which would require voter approval for changes to downtown parking lots, was trailing by more than 300 votes, with 47.8%, in favor and 52.2% opposed.
The race for Menlo Park City Council District 4 was even closer. Challenger Vamsi Velagapudi led incumbent Drew Combs by nine votes, 721 to 712, erasing Combs’ narrow lead earlier in the evening.
The county’s next results update is expected Thursday, Nov. 5. Irizarry said the county would not release results Wednesday since election workers worked until 2 a.m. He did not know how many ballots would be included in Thursday’s update.
Longtime election workers described the flood of ballots in the finals days of the election as the largest they had seen, according to Irizarry.
The count was also slowed by adjudication, a process in which two workers examine unclear markings to determine a voter’s intent. Ballots with an extra bubble filled in, a race crossed out or other marks are set aside for review before they can be counted, Irizarry said.
The workload also strained the county’s computer system. Irizarry said the volume nearly overwhelmed some servers used for adjudication, though the issue was resolved by the end of election night.
