Despite being behind by 16 votes on the night of the May 12, District 3 Redondo City Council election runoff Christian Anthony Horvath appears to have emerged the victor over Candace Allen Nafissi.
The election was fiercely contested and closely watched because Nafissi campaigned in opposition to pending plans for redevelopment of the waterfront. Horvath took a more supportive position. The winner is expected to provide the swing council vote on the issue.
Incumbent Pat Aust, who supports the development plans, will be termed out in June.
Results, released Monday by City Clerk Eleanor Manzano, which included previously uncounted absentee and provisional ballots, moved Horvath ahead by 12 votes. As of Monday, Horvath had 1,422 votes (50.2 percent) and Nafissi 1,410 (49.8 percent).
As part of the election’s certification process, the city clerk’s office conducted a hand tally of one of the four District 3 ballot boxes Wednesday morning, which confirmed the accuracy of the city’s vote-counting machines. That clears the way for Manzano to certify the election, which she said will be finalized on Thursday. “From my point of view, the election is now complete,” she said.
The ball is now in Nafissi’s court. Nafissi has five days following the election’s certification to request a recount. That would need to be financed by her, or any voter who is requesting a recount of the ballots. That voter would then be reimbursed by the city were the election to turn in their favor.
Manzano does not yet have an estimate as to the cost of a recount.
A statement released by Nafissi on Wednesday morning, before the hand tally, questioned city’s election practices.
“I have questioned the City Clerk’s actions in this election from the very beginning. The inconsistent processes leave me with many questions. The community and I have recognized this and want to ensure the voters get an accurate result that honors their choice. I will decide next steps pending the outcome of today’s hand count,” she wrote.
Manzano refuted Nafissi’s accusations of impropriety. “Our office has gone beyond to have everything the election code asks us to. We go by that and by the city charter — the process is done how we’ve done it for the last twelve years and prior to that,” she said. “Our department has kept the highest integrity in the vote and in making sure the votes count based on the election code and any laws that have been updated.”
Specifically, Manzano is referring to 2014’s Senate Bill 29, which allows for mail-in ballots to be admitted up to three days after the election, so long as they are postmarked on or before election day. “We picked up those ballots the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday following the election,” Manzano said.
Nafissi indicated Tuesday that she plans to request a recount.
In contrast to most elections, voter turnout for the District 3 runoff was greater than in the March 3 general election, when five candidates received a total of 2,626 votes. The other three candidates in the general election were Sam Kartounian, Sandy Marchese and Eric Coleman.
Horvath described Monday’s results as “overwhelming.”
“We watched the results live — we stayed home as a family to watch,” he said. His parents happened to be in town to visit. “We were going to go out to dinner anyway, and then we had a reason to celebrate.”
Nafissi said during a phone interview on Tuesday that she was feeling “good,” but that the situation felt “kind of awkward.” She added in an email, “I wish I could offer my unqualified congratulations to Christian Horvath. However, the huge shift in the count of the last 316 ballots is a statistical anomaly. As a result I’m asking for a recount as well as a thorough process verification.”
Manzano said this is the second closest election she has ever has presided over. In the 2005 mayoral election, Gerard Bisignano finished second, just one vote ahead of Ellen K. Allen. Bisignano lost in a runoff to Mike Gin. ER
