Re-count underway

A re-count in the tight Chula Vista City Council race involving Councilman John McCann and his opponent Steve Padilla got under way Wednesday morning.

About 22 members of the McCann and Padilla camps and several members from the Democratic Party were at the Registrar of Voters Office observing the recount process.

Members of their respective camps were hunched over the shoulders of the recount board making sure each and every vote was properly counted from 25 polling places in Chula Vista.

In an adjacent room, ballots that were not counted were inspected.

McCann, who was sworn in Tuesday night as Chula Vista’s newest elected councilman, won by two votes over Padilla.
Michael Vu with the Registrar of Voters Office said for the recount to take effect, every one of the nearly 37,000 ballots needs to be recounted.

“Every single ballot that was cast in this election for this contest needs to be recounted in order for it to take effect,” Vu said.

Vu said if the requestors ask that the recount stop without 100 percent of the ballots recounted then the election defaults to what the registrar’s office certified.