Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout15 - Swearing In Date for New City Council MembersOctober 26, 1998 Agenda Item No. 15 CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council FROM: LaVonne M. Harkless, City Clerk DATE: October 26, 1998 SUBJECT: Swearing In Date for New City Council Members RECOMMENDATION That the City Council discuss and set a date for the swearing in ceremony for new City Council Members. The ceremony could take place at the next regular meeting (December 14, 1998), or if so desired, the Council could set a special meeting date between November 24ih and December 14" (possibly November 30 °i or December 7 "', if a Monday night is preferable). BACKGROUND At the Regular City Council Meeting held on October 12, 1998, Council Member Hedges requested that the Council hold a discussion and set a date certain for the swearing in ceremony for the new Council Members subsequent to the November 3, 1998 General Municipal Election. As I indicated at the meeting, the County Registrar of Voters indicated in a meeting that I attended in May that the date they have set for certifying the election is Tuesday, November 24, 1998. I contacted the Registrar's office again on Friday, October 16, 1998 and once again it was confirmed that the certification date would be November 24, 1998. California law permits 28 days to complete the official canvass of the election. The law recognizes the complexity of completing the count and conducting a thorough audit of the election results to ensure accuracy. Attached is a letter written by Rosalyn Lever, Registrar of Voters, to the candidates /campaigns /news media explaining the logistics of election night ballot counting and follow -up ballot tabulation which occurs after the election. LaVonne M. Harkless, CMC /AAE City Clerk Attachment: Letter from Rosalyn Lever COUNTY OF ORANGE TO: Candidates'Campaigns:News Media FROM: Rosalyn Lever, RE:gistrar of Voters SUBJECT Election Nicht Vot; Count and Post - Election Canvass Candidates are frequently surprised when they learn that there are tens of thousands of uncounted ballots remaining after the election night unofficial tally, which often leaves races hanging in the balance. This memo is provided as a courtesy to explain the logistics of election night ballot counting and follow -up ballot tabulation which occurs several days after the election. There are three categories of ballots which cannot be processed election night: 1) absentee /mail ballots turned in at the polls and absentee /mail ballots received by mail on election day: 2) provisional ballots: and 3) write -in ballots. ABSENTEE /MAIL BALLOTS TURNED IN AT THE POLLS AND RECEIVED BY MAIL ELECTION DAY: Many absentee voters wait until the last minute to make their voting choices and then drop their absentee /mail ballots off at polling places on election day. We receive most of these ballots very late on election night. All of these ballot:: must be processed which includes verifying each voters' signature, sorting the ballots into the appropriate ballot district for tabulation, and opening the absentee ballot envelopes. We are projecting as many as 60,0)0 absentee ballots will be received by mail or turned in at the polls on election day. PROVISIONAL BALLOTS: Provisional ballots are voted at the polls when a voter's registration is in question, or when our records indicate the voter was sent ar. absentee /mail ballot. These provisional ballots are sealed in special envelopes at the polls for later inJividual research and verification at the Registrar's office. We anticipate as many as 25,000 provisional ballo:s. Again. each must be verified, sorted and opened prior to tallying. WRITE -IN BALLOTS: When a voter chooses to write -iii a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot. the ballot card must be individually reviewed to determine whether or not the write -in vote is for a qualified write -in candidate. All ballot cards containing write -in votes must be set aside election night for later manual review. Consequently, any other offices on that ballot czrd are also not tallied on election night. UPDATED COUNTS: We anticipate providing an updated count by Wednesday. November 10. This count will include the uncounted absentee ballots only. Provisional and write -in ballots will be counted shortly thereafter. Periodic updates will be made with a firal count anticipated no later than November 24. The final count will not become official until after completion of the official canvass. OFFICIAL CANVASS: California law permits 28 days to complete the official canvass of the election. The law recognizes the complexity of completing the count and conducting a thorough audit of the election results to ensure accuracy. As part of this audit, we are required to conduct a random manual count of all ballots for 1 % of the voting precincts. This assures accuracy of the computer count. This manual count Is open to the public, as is the election night vote count,.and is conducted in our office at 1300 South Grand Avenue, Building "C ", Santa Ana. Canvass completior and election certification is expected to take place on November 24, 1998. We realize it is difficult for candidates /campaigns to wait days to know the outcome of an election. However, we hope the reasons for the delE ys have been explained in this memo. If you would like further informatlon or have questions about any of the information contained in this memo, please feel tree to contact Don Z aytor, Assistant Registrar of Voters or myself at (714) 567 -7620.