Update: Measure B Election Certification Postponed

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters agreed to postpone certification of the Measure B special election, according to a press release issued by the Friday.

Supporters of the measure, a $180 parcel tax that raise emergency funding for the school district, asked for an extension in order to ensure all ballots were counted.

According to unofficial results released by the Registrar of Voters Office, the mail-in measure received 7,851 (66.43 percent) "yes" votes and 3,967 (33.57 percent) "no" votes. It needed a two-thirds (66.7 percent) majority vote  to pass. All votes were counted manually, according to Deputy Registrar of Voters Cynthia Cornejo.

Voting ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Ballots must have been received by the Registrar’s Office by then, either by mail or retrieved from one of the four drop-off locations throughout the city.

However, Measure B campaign manager Richard Valle argues that not all votes were counted.

According to Valle, ballots at Union City's were picked up two hours early at 6 p.m. Tuesday, instead of at 8 p.m., leaving some ballots uncounted. Among Valle’s concerns are the 37 undervotes—ballots that may have been unmarked or incorrectly marked. “We want to physically examine those ballots in front of the Registar’s staff and (have them) tell us why it’s being kicked out and not counted,” he said.

Valle also said there may be a discrepancy between a Registrar of Voters’ tally sheet and the final results.

A tally sheet indicated more than 900 ballots were picked up from drop-off sites Tuesday night, according to Valle. But when final results were posted Wednesday, only 711 more votes had been added to the results, he said.

“Our question is: What happened to the other 200 ballots?” Valle said.

Another 28 "yes" votes could change the decision, he said. “Because the margin of error is so small, we believe these things are critical to get the real numbers,” Valle said. “It could flip.

Registrar of Voters spokesman Guy Ashley said he was unaware of any outstanding ballots. "I believe we got all the ballots at the time we were supposed to collect them," he said Thursday afternoon.

New Haven Superintendent Kari McVeigh and Alameda County District 2 Supervisor Nadia Lockyer are scheduled to meet with Alameda County Registrar Dave MacDonald on Monday to address their concerns before considering if they will proceed with a  formal recount, according to Friday’s NHUSD press release.

“We are pursuing these answers and information because this election is so important to the District’s mission of providing the highest quality of education to all of our students,” Ms. McVeigh said.

If passed, Measure B, a $180 parcel tax, would generate $3 million a year for the next four years to help preserve instructional time, maintain after-school activities and minimize class size increases. Annually, the tax would equate to $15 a month and would include exemptions for seniors and disabled residents. No money would go toward administrators’ salaries or for facilities maintenance, according to the ballot statement.

The district faces a budget shortfall of more than $10 million next school year. The district already trimmed its budget from $113 million to $99 million. In March, the district approved , including teachers and counseling staff, and the . The James Logan High School and Alvarado and Cesar Chavez Middle Schools .  

“It’s very clear that a majority of voters in our District understand the funding difficulties  that public education is facing and were willing to reach into their own pockets to help,” McVeigh said.

“If indeed it is true that we fell just short of the super-majority we needed to pass the measure, that’s extremely unfortunate," she said. "The cuts that the state is forcing us to make are very real, and they’re going to have a very real impact on our children.”