Updated: April 10, 2024 at 11:05am
The three-way 16th District race for Congress is now in doubt, since paperwork to initiate a recount has officially been filed.
Elections officials told the Los Gatan Monday that formal documents had been submitted to double-check ballots in the contest, which featured an historic tie for second.
In the race, former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo got the most votes, with Assemblymember Evan Low and Supervisor Joe Simitian literally tying for the runner-up spot (they each received 30,249 votes).
Michael Borja, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, said that Pacifica resident Dan Stegink submitted the official paperwork to set a retabulation in motion, though the process still needed to be “finalized” for the machinery to kick into gear.
Stegink, a software developer and environmental advocate, said a tie made about as much sense to him as finding a bucket sitting in a parking lot with $1,000 inside, and pointed out there were a number of ballots with signature problems that weren’t included.
“Let’s have full transparency and take a look,” he said in a telephone conversation.
Borja said elections officials had not found another example of a tie in a congressional race in the county.
According to State law: “If only one candidate receives the highest number of votes cast but there is a tie vote among two or more candidates receiving the second highest number of votes cast, each of those second-place candidates shall be a candidate at the ensuing general election along with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast, regardless of whether there are more candidates at the general election than prescribed by this article.”
One final signature recorded in the final hour of ballot counting in San Mateo County erased Low’s one-vote lead.
Liccardo led his two top opponents by 4.5 percentage points, but approximately 60% of the district’s registered voters stayed home in the March 5 vote. The presidential election turnout is likely to be more than twice the primary vote. With a comfortable 8,240-vote lead for the top spot on the November ballot, he has already begun piling up new endorsements and campaign cash.
Jim Irizarry, assistant chief elections officer for San Mateo County, said they’d received an official recount request at 12:55pm Monday.
“We’re just moving the process along,” he said. “When we have a request that comes in, the requestor really has a lot of latitude to determine how the process works.”
In order for a recount to be valid, every precinct must be recounted, he added.
“Every election is a complex process,” he said. “We don’t do too many recounts.”
In San Mateo County, a hand count costs around $84-85,000 total, while a machine count costs around $10,000 per day (but can be completed much more quickly).
Irizarry said San Mateo County requires a minimum deposit of around $5,000, adding a start date of April 15th is looking likely.
Beyond the typical issues with challenged ballots, Irizarry said there were “no irregularities” with the election.
Santa Clara County officials noted their recount fee is $320,000 for a 10-day hand count, or $84,000 for a machine count.
Stegink said he’s hoping the Boards of Supervisors in both counties will chip in, though he says he’s happy to pay part of the cost.
“I’m not going to pay $200,000 for it, but I’d be willing to submit a significant sum,” he said, adding he means at least in the four-digit range.
Under Santa Clara County rules, a payment is due by the first day of the recount.
Stegink said he interprets State law to say that the counties must pay for a recount if there is a tie and the new tally reveals the first delivered an incorrect total.
“The goal here is to put together a recount request that I can pay for part of and the county realizes that, Oh we’re not going to recover on this,” he said. “Statistically, mathematically, this is an impossible event.”
He denied launching a recount at the behest of Liccardo.
“I’m not part of the Sam Liccardo campaign,” he said. “I haven’t taken a dime from him or endorsed him.”
In fact, he said, he initially put down both Low and Simitian when indicating which candidate he was filing on behalf of and which candidate’s total he’d like to see changed.
However, he told the Los Gatan, he designated Low, in the case he had to select one.
“I picked Evan Low alphabetically,” he said.
Stegink says he will ask for a machine recount, because it’s cheaper.
“I do believe that a machine count would not reflect the hand count total that they’ve come up with,” he said. “It’s cheaper. It’s a minimum risk argument.”
When asked about his motivation, he said he wants the local member of Congress to be elected by a majority, in part to prevent the Republican Party from being able to throw their weight behind a particular candidate.
“I am a progressive at heart,” he said.
Stegink confirmed that as long as the counties agree to his interpretation of the refund rules, he’s willing to front the money to get the ball rolling on the recount.
“If there’s not a chance that I can recover the funding for this…then there’s no benefit for me,” he said, adding, “I can guarantee that a recount will take place.
