Finally! March 3 Voting Numbers Declared Official in L.A. County

What has been unofficially official for more than three weeks is now officially official – L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan has finally certified the results of the March 3 election.

Logan’s long-pending final numbers come after the disastrous rollout of L.A. County’s new $300 million, high-tech voting system, which produced long lines on Election Day (and into Election Night) – and then calls from the County Board of Supervisors for an independent investigation into what made the whole process so glitch-filled and lengthy.

Mike Sanchez, public information officer for the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, told Pasadena Now on Friday that the numbers now posted on LAVote.net have been certified as the final vote tallies from the March 3 mess.

For Pasadena, that means there will be a Nov. 3 runoff for mayor between incumbent Terry Tornek and Council Member Victor Gordo; that Felicia Williams will be the new Council Member from District 2; and that incumbent council members Gene Masuda (District 4), Steve Madison (District 6) and Tyron Hampton (District 1, who ran unopposed) all held on to their seats.

In the mayoral race, Gordo finished first with 18,586 votes, or 46.52 percent, to Tornek’s 16,607 and 41.57 percent. If no candidate wins 50 percent plus one, the race goes to a runoff on Nov. 3 between the top two vote-getters.

Major Williams (3,366 votes, 8.43 percent) and Jason Hardin (1,391 votes, 3.48 percent) rounded out the field of four mayoral hopefuls on the March 3 ballot.

In the District 2 council race, Williams cruised to victory with 2,910 votes (52.85 percent), beating out Tricia Keane (1,491 votes), Bo Patatian (670) and Kevin Litwin (435).

In District 4, the final scoreboard reads Masuda with 4,093 votes (59.08 percent), followed by Charlotte Bland (1,366 votes), Joe Baghdadlian (1,041) and Kevin Wheeler (428).

In District 6, Madison rang up 4,216 votes (52.35 percent), followed by Tamerlin Godley (3,165 votes) and Ryan Bell (673).

Hampton, running alone in District 1, got 4,419 votes.

Pasadena voters didn’t get the worst of the March 3 snafus, but problems were reported in town, with long lines at City Hall and three of that site’s six machines sidelined as of 11 a.m. At the San Rafael Library polling place, according to Madison, “The lines were at one point out the door, people were becoming frustrated.”

“I don’t have any reason to believe that people actually did not vote because of the length of the lines, but that would not surprise me at all,’’ Madison said during the March 9 council meeting.

“I share your dismay,” Tornek replied to Madison at that meeting.

Tornek also said of the new voting system, “It was not a success story.’’