BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Eight votes, that's the difference separating Greenfield Union Board of Trustee Area C incumbent Ricard Herrera and challenger Mercy Pena.
- It's been over a month since the general election, and last week Kern County Elections Division released the final ballot results.
- After the Kern County Elections Office released their final results, it came to light that 108 voters in the Trustee Area C race actually belonged to Area D.
It's been over a month since the general election, and last week Kern County Elections Division released the final ballot results. Amid those results, discrepancies surrounding a very tight school board race came to light.
Eight votes, that's the difference separating Greenfield Union Board of Trustee Area C incumbent Ricard Herrera and challenger Mercy Pena. Yet after the Kern County Elections Office released their final results, it came to light that 108 voters in the Trustee Area C race actually belonged to Area D.
"Technically they said I lost by eight votes, that's the difference eight votes and there's 108 ballots that county counsel found that voted that weren't in my trustee area," Herrera told me.
He's not only shocked by this discovery but by the way it's been handled since it first came to light.
"I don't want to go down this path, they should have just owned up to this, they knew about this mistake on November 25, and they didn't bring this up to my attention until Tuesday, Dec. 3," he said. "Eight days later, they say in order for us not to certify this election, you've got less than 48 hours to get an attorney and file a stay order."
The Greenfield Union School District released a statement saying in part:
"Given the narrow eight-vote margin separating the candidates in the results that were certified the County, this error raises significant concerns about the election's integrity. We are deeply committed to preserving the integrity of the process. In today's climate, where trust in free and fair elections is a national concern, we must uphold the highest standards of electoral accuracy and fairness."
The district retained legal counsel who filed a petition with Kern County Superior Courts requesting the courts restrain the county from certifying the election results until an audit can be performed.
We made attempts to speak with the Elections Division and Kern County Registrar of Voters Aimee Espinoza about this matter, but no one was available for comment as of Monday.
Herrera said he feels accountability needs to be taken.
"It adds to the element, can voters in Kern County trust their elected officials to actually process these ballots accurately?" he said.
We reached out to Pena as well who wrote, "This case is between the Elections Office and the Greenfield Union School District. One or the other made the mistake and neither one followed through regarding the new redistricting map. The election has been certified, and I won."
Pena won the election with a thousand and twelve votes while Herrera lost with a thousand and four votes. According to elections code, if someone calls for a recount, the burden of cost would fall entirely on that person, something the petition states seems unfair in this case.
During the Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Supervisors are expected to certify election results. When asked if they still will, Chairman David Couch told us he didn't know.
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