Supervisor candidate says she intends to seek a recount

09:47 PM PST on Friday, March 19, 2004

By MICHAEL CORONADO / The Press-Enterprise

For the sixth time since electronic voting began in this region, the Riverside County registrar's office is poised to begin a recount.

This time, the potential scrutiny focuses on the District 1 Supervisorial race, in which incumbent Bob Buster narrowly avoided a November runoff against opponent Linda Soubirous.

Soubirous sent a letter this week to Riverside County Registrar Mischelle Townsend, stating her intent to seek a recount in that race, which is still yet to be certified.
 
In the District 1 Supervisorial race, Bob Buster, left, garnered 24,633 votes and Linda Soubirous, below, got 16,969 votes. Soubirous has asked for a recount.

In that contest, Buster garnered 24,633 votes, or 50.09 percent of the total 49,175 votes cast.

Soubirous received 34.51 percent, or 16,969 votes. And Kevin Pape received 15.40 percent, translating into 7,573 votes.

To avoid a November runoff, Buster needed 50 percent plus one vote cast. He received 45 votes in excess of the 50 percent mark.

A recount demand comes in the midst of controversy surrounding electronic voting systems across Southern California.

Leaders of the state Senate's election panel said last week that California should abandon touch-screen voting machines for the November general election to avoid a repeat of problems that occurred during the March primary.

In the March 2 election, officials estimate that 7,000 Orange County voters received the wrong electronic ballot. Computer malfunctions delayed voting at some Alameda and San Diego county precincts.

In San Bernardino County, elections officials did not properly prepare a computer to process the results. It took hours before they could post any numbers, and left embarrassed officials explaining how the debut of a $13.8 million touch-screen voting system went wrong.

Still, the Riverside County electronic voting machines have proven error-safe. They've had no glitches and no serious problems that have hampered any election so far.
 

"This system has never failed us," Townsend said.

A recount cannot begin until the entire election is certified, which must be completed by March 30, Townsend said Friday. Once the election is certified, a written request seeking a recount must be submitted within five days of the certification.

A minimum of two boards, consisting of four members each, would count paper and electronic ballots manually. Given the vast size of District 1, which includes most of Riverside, the city of Lake Elsinore and the unincorporated communities of Mead Valley, Lake Mathews, Woodcrest and Wildomar, up to six boards could be employed to complete a recount.

Recounts are labor intensive and can be expensive. Townsend said it costs $400 per day, per board to recount the votes. A minimum of two boards - one to count paper ballots, the other to count electronic ballots - must be used.

In the case of those electronic votes cast, ballot images or precinct summary results are printed out and manually checked and counted.

It's unclear how long a recount could take, Townsend said, but oftentimes multiple boards counting the ballots help to quicken the process.

"The entire election was I think problem free, so I wouldn't expect the results to change," Buster said Friday.

Attempts to reach Soubirous were unsuccessful Friday. If Soubirous goes forward with a recount, the odds are against her.

In the history of the Riverside County registrar's department, a recount has never overturned the result of an election, Townsend said.