Editorials

S.F. still waiting for final election results

By Ritu Bhatnagar, Associated Press Writer
Monday November 12, 2001

Public power measures still in doubt 

 

SAN FRANCISCO – About 600 ballots kept San Francisco’s elections officials from announcing final results Sunday for an election that’s stretched on for more than four days now and held the future of the city’s public power measure in the balance. 

The 600 ballots – which will determine the fate of public power Measure F – are re-makes, or ballots a scanner wasn’t able to read. Elections officials must examine each ballot separately, correct any problems and rerun the ballots through the machine. 

“There is nothing unusual about this process,” said Tammy Haygood, director of the San Francisco Department of Elections. “We have ballots not automatically read all the time in all counties. What makes this particular is that we’re in a very tight race in San Francisco, and they could make the difference.” 

The much-awaited results for Measure F and Proposition I were supposed to be announced Sunday night, but some lost faith in the Department of Elections’ promise of results. 

“I’m losing patience,” said Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano. “I’ve gone from being somewhat resigned to being irritable. We may get these results tonight, as they say, or it may be tomorrow morning – there’s no knowing.” 

High emotions have dominated the election after Haygood took all of the absentee ballots received in the mail on Election Day to a site away from City Hall. Haygood has defended her decision, saying it was done to prevent any anthrax scares or hoaxes. 

But Ammiano said the lack of communication within the elections department raises questions about the security, and therefore accuracy, surrounding those ballots. 

In an election rife with confusion, Measure F faces an especially close battle. Sunday afternoon results showed 64,002 votes in favor of the measure, and 64,388 against it. 

Ross Mirkarimi, the campaign manager for both measures, said that he was heartened by the results. 

“We’re inching closer,” he said. “We’re less than 386 votes away.” 

If the measures don’t pass, Mirkarimi said his camp would pursue every legal option possible, including a full re-count, to challenge the results. 

Frank Gallagher, a spokesman for the Coalition for Affordable Public Services, said his group, which opposes the two measures, wouldn’t pursue a re-count once the final results are released. 

“You have to look at how big the margin is,” he said. “Re-counting is not going to move a lot of votes.” 

The tally indicates that Proposition I may be back to the drawing board, with 64,216 votes against it and 59,874 in favor of it. 

Proposition I would have created an independent municipal utility district similar to one in Sacramento. Measure F would expand the city’s public utilities commission into a department of water and power, allowing an elected board to buy Pacific Gas and Electric Co. infrastructure to serve the city. 

Both measures, seen as a threat to PG&E’s dominance in the San Francisco power business, were fiercely criticized by PG&E and its corporate allies, such as AT&T and Pacific Telesis. Together, they spent more than $2 million on opposition campaigns, and PG&E promised legal action if the proposals won. 

“We don’t know the outcome yet, but the fact that there is no mandate – no landslide in favor of this – means that voters are unwilling to take such a drastic measure,” said PG&E spokesman Jonathan Franks. “The Pacific Gas and Electric Company didn’t create the energy crisis and drastic and costly measures such as F and I aren’t going to solve it.”