Concerned about how the voting registration process for
9,700 students in Isla Vista registered in the final weeks before the election
was carried out, 3rd District county supervisor candidate Steve Pappas sought
information from county officials in Santa Barbara over the last 10 days.
Pappas wrote e-mails, made phone calls and went door to
door seeking information from the Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder Joe
Holland, and the Elections Division Manager Billie Alvarez. Pappas said he has
not yet made a determination about what he will do with the information.
Of primary interest to the candidate, who faced off
against Doreen Farr in the 3rd District supervisorial race, is whether the late
registrations that came in were properly verified with photo identification.
As of Nov. 19, Farr was still ahead of Pappas in the most
current voting returns, with Farr collecting 17,145 votes and Pappas totaling
16,535.
Farr has said she expects to hold the lead at the end of
the vote counting, which was continuing the week of Nov. 17 with provisional
ballots.
The provisional ballots take longer to count because the
identity of each voter must be independently verified.
When you register to vote for the first time, you are
required to provide a photo ID or your driver’s license number and social
security number. That information is then verified by the secretary of state’s
office in Sacramento before the voter information is entered into a local
database.
If you do not provide that information, you must present
a photo ID when you go to the polls or mail in a copy along with your ballot if
you are voting by mail.
Pappas wanted to make sure that process was carried out
appropriately during the recent election, he said.
“We requested verification that these processes were being
followed,” he said.
Pappas said he will wait to see what the final results
are to see what his next step will be. Complete results are expected Nov. 21.
Pappas could ask for a recount of the election results,
something that has happened several times before in the often-close elections
for the 3rd district seat. He would have to do that within five days of the
election being officially certified, according to the deputy clerk.
Other races still too close to call include the Tony
Strickland-Hannah-Beth Jackson state Senate contest, which has been see-sawing
back and forth as results trickle in.
Reach Leah Etling at
letling@syvjournal.com.