Election Canvass Completed, Johnson Tops Yoo By 24 Votes in ABC School Board Race

As projected on the evening of the Nov. 8 ABC School Board election, political newcomer  has won  by defeating three other candidates, including who trailed Johnson by just 24 votes, according to the completed canvass tallies released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office on Friday afternoon. 

Johnson, a 47-year-old paralegal and longtime Cerritos resident, received 3,018 votes -- 33.28 percent of the 9,068 votes cast in the race for the 2-year term. Yoo trailed close behind with 2,994 votes, followed by with 2,704 votes and with 352. 

In the other portion of the school board race, all four incumbents were re-elected to 4-year terms. was the top vote-getter with 5,168 votes, earned 4,338 votes, received 4,147 votes, followed by current board president with 3,983 votes. The other two candidates, and came up short, receiving 2,503 and 1,951 nods, respectively.

After the latest numbers were posted just after 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk tweeted "Nov 8 Elections count of ballots & 1% Manual Tally is complete."

The certification of the election results will take place on Monday, Nov 21, after which the certified results then go to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 22, according to the Registrar-Recorder's office. All newly elected school board members will be sworn in at the ABC School Board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

The official election canvass was conducted by the county Registrar-Recorder from Nov. 10 to Nov. 21. The process included the counting and verification of all outstanding provisional, vote-by-mail and withheld ballots from the election, and a manual tally of the ballots cast in one percent of the precincts, chosen at random by the elections official.

Recount Implications?

Because just 24 votes currently separate Johnson and Yoo, a request for a recount could potentially be filed. However, that request must be made in writing during the period of Nov. 22 and Nov. 26 (Elec. Code §§ 15620, 1562.) A fee must also be paid to cover the costs associated with the recount, which include labor, equipment, material and personnel (Elec. Code §15624). The recount would then take place between Nov. 29 and Dec. 3, according to the Registrar-Recorder's office.

The Numbers

Here are the updated numbers as of Nov. 18 at 2:05 p.m.:

Results from the Nov. 8, 2011 ABC School Board Election according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk:

Semi-Final Official Election Results for the unexpired 2-year term:
* 25 of 25 precincts reported

Semi-Final Official Election Results for the four 4-year term seats:
* 25 of 25 precincts reported