In California, Recount is High Drama for Candidates, High Anxiety for Election Officials

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California is looking at the prospect of a significant – if not yet statewide – recount for Controller after two candidates were separated by just hundreds of votes for the last spot on the November ballot. Yet, as candidates and the media build excitement for high political drama, the state’s election officials are feeling strong emotions of a different kind. SanLuisObispo.com has more:

Election officials across California on Monday began preparing for a historically large hand recount in the state controller’s race amid uncertainty about how to coordinate an effort involving thousands of precincts in 15 counties.

During a normally slow time on the election calendar, counties were calling back employees from vacation, getting in touch with potential members of recount boards and studying the finer points of the state’s recount laws. The activity began after former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez filed papers Sunday seeking manual recounts in 15 counties where he ran well against Board of Equalization member and fellow Democrat Betty Yee.

“There are more questions right now than answers,” said Michael Scarpello, registrar of voters in San Bernardino County, where the Pérez campaign seeks recounts in 495 of the county’s nearly 1,700 precincts.

Pérez is seeking the right to face the top vote-getter, Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, in the November general election for the controller’s post. Often viewed as the state’s chief financial officer, the controller runs the state’s payroll and manages its cash flow, among other fiscal management duties.

In the six-candidate controller’s field, Yee leads Pérez by 481 votes out of more than 4 million cast, a margin of one-hundredth of a percent. Only four other statewide votes in the U.S. since 2000 have had as close a margin, with subsequent recounts reversing the Election Day outcome in two of them.

The anxiety election officials are feeling has many causes. One big reason is uncertainty about the state’s role in the process:

Late Monday afternoon, Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office hosted a conference call with anxious county officials. Yet it remained unclear Monday to what extent Bowen’s office will coordinate the recount process among the counties. The involved counties, for instance, use six types of vote-by-mail systems and seven types of polling-place voting machines.

“I think the Secretary of State’s Office has to play a role in this. They are vital to this process,” said Mark Church, registrar of voters in San Mateo County …

Bowen’s office was unavailable for comment after the call.

Another source of worry, not surprisingly, is who will pay counties for the effort involved in the recount:

Unlike some states, California law does not require automatic recounts in close races. A person requesting a recount has to front the money to pay for it before each day of counting. Pérez wants the recount to begin simultaneously in Kern and Imperial counties, and then proceed sequentially in 13 additional counties …

[C]ounty officials voiced concerns that, notwithstanding the payment-in-advance rules for recounts, their counties could be left holding the bag if the recount ends before it gets to them.

Rebecca Spencer, acting registrar in Riverside County, which is No. 9 on the recount list, said the process of preparing for the recount involves pulling together thousands of precinct records and discarded provisional and vote-by-mail ballots. “It’s about five days of prep work. That’s my major concern – if we start that prep work now, and there are eight counties ahead of us, and they call it off, do we get reimbursed?” Spencer said.

Finally, there is concern that a lengthy recount and any associated litigation could drag on long enough to interfere with preparations for the November general election.

Moreover, it is by no means certain that the 15 counties involved will be the only 15 counties that end up recounting ballots. As the article notes, “The Yee campaign said it plans to closely monitor the recounts. If the recount puts Pérez in front, Yee’s campaign has 24 hours to request a recount in counties of its choosing.”

No doubt the political story of who will be the second candidate for Controller will dominate the discussion, but it’s worth keeping an eye on developments in the Golden State to see if the anxiety election officials feel ends up being justified.

Everything is bigger in California – stay tuned!