Schools
Official Election Canvass Begins Today; Yoo Waits, Johnson to Move Forward
An official canvass of all the outstanding provisional, vote-by-mail and withheld ballots from Tuesday night's ABC School Board election begins today with updated results to be posted on Friday afternoon.
The official election canvass begins today and will last through Monday, Nov. 21, a process in which all outstanding provisional, vote-by-mail and withheld ballots from Tuesday night's ABC School Board election will be verified and tallied by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office.
During this process, the LA County's Registrar-Recorder will also conduct the 1% manual audit. The next scheduled update of Tuesday night's election results will be available Friday, Nov. 11 after 5 p.m. and can be viewed at www.lavote.net. Additional updates will be posted every following Tuesday and Friday with the final official election results posted on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011.
What Takes Place During the Official Canvass?
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By law, the activities undertaken during the official canvass include:
- 1. Processing and counting any valid vote-by-mail and provisional ballots not included in the semifinal official canvass. Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose names do not appear on the precinct roster.
2. An inspection of all materials and supplies returned by poll workers.
3. A reconciliation of the number of signatures on the roster with the number of ballots recorded on the ballot statement.
4. A reconciliation of the number of ballots counted, spoiled, canceled, or invalidated due to identifying marks or overvotes with the number of votes counted, including vote-by-mail and provisional ballots.
5. Counting any valid write-in votes.
6. Reproducing any damaged ballots, if necessary.
7. Conducting a hand count of the ballots cast in one (1) percent of the precincts, chosen at random by the elections official.
8. Reporting final results to the Secretary of State, as required.
How Does This Impact the ABC School Board Election Results?
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The official canvass of the votes will be a critical part of this election, which on Tuesday night projected longtime Cerritos resident as the winner over by a slim margin of 132 votes for the unexpired 2-year term seat -- a seat left open when Mark E. Pulido stepped down after earlier this year.
posted just after midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 9 showed Johnson earning 34.22 percent (2,594) of the 7,580 votes cast, according to the county's Registrar-Recorder. Yoo was close behind with 32.49 percent of the votes, followed by with 29.59 percent and with 3.71 percent.
Yoo Takes Wait-and-See Approach
Yoo, who led the polls for most of the evening until the final stretch, initially told Patch that she would seek a recount just moments after the last updated numbers were posted. However she has since decided to wait for the official canvass and certification process to be completed.
"We're waiting to look at other options at this time," she said. "It's about waiting and seeing what the numbers are. Most likely we won't ask for a recount. I talked about the situation with my advisors and the best thing to do is wait it out."
Johnson is Ready to Move Forward
For Johnson, the thrill of Tuesday night's late surge in the polls is still setting in.
"On Wednesday, it was finally a rest day for me," she said. "I was bombarded with emails and text, some as early as 7:30 a.m., all well wishes and very much appreciated."
Johnson, who said the last 80 days have been completely focused in on campaigning, said she finally spent Wednesday living in a "civilian world" surrounded by some of her closest friends.
"I went out and got a massage," she laughed. "And toward the evening I had dinner with some close girlfriends -- some who were part of my core team. I just tried to finally reconnect with my normal life."
Today, the mother of three, spent the morning responding to as many well wishes as she could by phone, text and email, "I am so appreciative of the support and kind words I've received. I know it's going to take days to reach out to many of those who have supported, voted and endorsed me."
Although the political newcomer is clearly aware that the official numbers from Tuesday night's election remain in flux because of the canvassing process, she said she has already been contacted by officials and is ready to move forward.
"Everything is already moving so quickly," she said. "The district has already called me to set up an appointment for me to meet with and next week. I know there's talk about a recount, but we can't wait for that, I need to move forward at this point because there are things that need to get going. I knew that I would have to hit the ground running with the swearing-in ceremony on Dec. 6, which is just around the corner."
"I know the election still needs to be certified, so we'll let that process take place and in the meantime, I'll do what I need to do on my side," Johnson said.
* Ed Carrasco contributed to this report.
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