Oakland Mayor's Race: Final Ballot Count Delay Due To Provisional Ballots

The much-anticipated final Oakland Mayor's Race ballot count that was to take place at 4 PM today (and had television media rushing to the Alameda County Registrar's Office at 4 PM just as this video blogger was leaving) has been delayed around 24 hours.

According to David Mac Donald, who was the hero of the Alameda County effort to handle the massive turnout for the 2008 Presidential Election that saw Barack Obama elected the first African-American President of The United States, the reason is a "crowded election."

"We've had more ballots to process in this election, than in any election in history," Mac Donald said. "And the reason is because with Ranked Choice Voting, every voter in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro got three ballot cards. And so it's triple the amount of paper that we have to handle. So it's been a big effort, but we're making a lot of progress. We're getting there."

Mac Donald said that he's received calls and visits from "some of the candidates" who have been watching the count closely.

And for good reason.

When the first round Oakland Mayor's Race ballots were counted, Former Senator Don Perata was ahead of Councilmember Jean Quan 33.96 percent to 24.54 percent, with At-Large Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan close by at 21.48 percent.   Only a massive transfer of votes in the second round of counting to determine voters second choice could place Jean Quan ahead.  That happened.

When the second round and successive rounds were calculated to get to a 50 percent majority for one candidate first, (now former as of January 2011) Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan took the lead:

10th round (final)

43,825 - 51.09% - Jean Quan
41,949 - 48.91% - Don Perata

9th round
36,816 - 40.21% - Don Perata
28,399 - 31.02% - Jean Quan
26,333 - 28.76% - Rebecca Kaplan

(Transferred 15,426 to Jean Quan / 5,133 for Don Perata, which is the "impossible scenario" some observers offered.)

When that was reported, the Perata camp's collective head sunk, and the Quan supporters broke out the bubby:



And for good reason: Quan will be Oakland's first Asian and female mayor if the lead holds up.

Meanwhile, this blogger fielded calls, emails, and messages of concern that Quan, considered at times aloof and insensitive, was going to be Oakland's new leader.

The difference as of this writing is just 1,876 votes between Perata and Quan. And, according to the Registrar of Voters there were over 10,000 absentee ballots that were counted, but an unknown number of provisional ballots that are being counted.

It's the provisional ballots that are taking more time.

What are they? I can use myself to give an example. The information containing my polling location was incorrect, so in going to what was printed as the correct place, that was closed. In a rush, I went over to vote at another location, where I filled out a "provisional ballot."

The problem for David Mac Donald and his crew at the Registrar of Voters, is that a ballot that was filled out from someone who lives in Livermore, but dropped off in Oakland, creates more sorting work for that person. David Mac Donald's people have to separate those provisional ballots and then count the Oakland-based ballots that deal with Oakland, and those are "Ranked Choice Voting" designed.

Got it?

With all this, it's too early for anyone to celebrate. Still, we have to allow Jean Quan's supporters a moment of partying and drinking, considering their hard work. "Gaming" the Ranked Choice Voting system - telling supporters who to vote for - worked. Moreover, Kaplan and Quan teamed up to battle against Perata, who didn't try to "game" the system. In doing so they set model for future Oakland elections.

Good or bad for Oakland? That's for discussion.