Antioch and Richmond Recounts Result in No Change in Winners

On Friday, for the second time, Contra Costa County Elections declared winners in the Antioch City Council District 1 race and Richmond City Council District 2.

Deborah Cooper, Contra Costa County’s Clerk-Recorder-Registrar, read the final votes which showed:

Antioch City Council District 1

• 1,467 – Tamisha Torres-Walker
• 1,463  – Joy Motts (-1 vote)
• 1,338 – Diane Gibson-Gray

Richmond City Council District 2

• 1,921 – Cesar Zepeda
• 1,918 – Andrew Butt (-3 votes)

“These close races should remind voters how important every single vote is. I have been working for the Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department for 33 years and recounts have been extremely rare.” said Debi Cooper, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar for Contra Costa County. “Our elections team once again performed above and beyond, by recounting not one, but two city council races over the course of the past week and a half.  These recounts confirmed the integrity of the elections through a transparent audit process.”

The Elections Division provided Recount Procedures, the California Code of Regulations, California Uniform Vote Count Standards, and a planned schedule of recount activities to all requestors and candidates for both races prior to the start of the recount process.

In Antioch, Motts had hoped a recount would help her close the gap on the three vote lead held by Torres-Walker after the Nov. 8 election, but she actually lost a vote giving Torres-Walker a four-vote win after the completion of the recount.

In Richmond, Zepeda actually won the race after the recount as Butt had lost three votes during the recount. County elections said the votes cast for Butt were not allowed to vote in the District 2 race.  Before calling for a recount, Zepeda and Butts had tied. On Dec. 6, to break the tie, the City of Richmond on held a tiebreaker by pulling a name from an envelop from a bag which Zepeda’s name was drawn giving him the go-ahead vote.

The cost of the recount was at $29,000 for Motts campaign — it would have been higher, but some of the costs were split with the Butts campaign.  Both candidates now have the option to request going through all additional boxes to see if any other votes can be discovered for Antioch or Richmond, but that would be an additional cost. Or, they can file a legal challenge.

The final official report for this election is posted on the Contra Costa County Elections website and can be found at www.contracostavote.gov.

 

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Previous Stories:

• Dec. 14 – Early Recount Shows 12 Ballots Not Counted in Antioch District 1 Race
• Dec. 7:  Requests for Recounts in Antioch and Richmond City Council Races
• Dec. 6: Joy Motts Officially Asks For Recount in Antioch City Council District 1 Race
• Dec. 3 – Supervisor Gioia Shares Thoughts on Tie Richmond City Council Race
• Dec. 1 –  Richmond City Council Race Ends in Tie, Heads to Game of Luck
• Dec. 1: Tamisha Torres-Walker Wins Antioch City Council Race by 3 Votes