IT'S OFFICIAL: Patterson wins final absentee ballot vote, margin of victory now plus 177

By Roger Straw

BENICIA, CA / November 8, 2007, 2:28 PM [LATER, 10PM - adding one vote for Patterson to match Registrar website] - Moments ago, the Solano County Registrar of Voters office completed its count of the absentee ballots that were turned in on November 6 at the precinct polling places, and Elizabeth Patterson's margin of victory over Bill Whitney increased, from only 98 votes to 177 votes, a margin of 2.27%.

Here is the final tally after today's count:

• Patterson - 3,978 (50.96%)
• Whitney   - 3,801 (48.69%)

The new official vote count still lacks "provisional ballots," which will be counted within the coming week, but the number of provisional ballots is almost certainly inadequate to challenge Patterson's new margin of 177 votes. County-wide, there are approximately 840 provisional ballots, mostly from Vallejo.

In today's count of late arriving absentee ballots Benicia's total vote count increased by about 400, which is about ten percent of the total. Even if ten percent of the provisional ballots were from Benicia (which is unlikely), and if 100% of them were for Whitney (also unlikely), Patterson would prevail.

FLASH: Absentee ballots to be counted today, 1pm

By Roger Straw

BENICIA, CA / November 8, 2007, 10:36 AM - Benician Sabina Yates phoned the Solano County Registrar office this morning and was told that absentee ballots would be counted this afternoon, Thursday, 11/8, sometime after 1pm.

Yates was among those who did an independent audit of 2005 election procedures in Solano County. According to the findings of that audit, the weakest links in our local elections are

• the counting of absentee ballots, and
• transport of ballots

Yates was told that it is permissible for campaign volunteers and other watchdog groups to monitor the count of absentee ballots. Benicia First! is rounding up one or more people to go to the 2nd floor offices of the Solano County Building ("Glass Palace") in Fairfield, this afternoon.

[LATER, 11:00 AM] Lindsay McWilliams, Solano County Assistant Registrar of Voters, is saying that the Absentee Ballot Count will begin at 1:15pm. They will begin with Vallejo and they might give a total after they have counted Vallejo and Benicia. (This is the count for all of Solano County.)

It's our understanding that the ES&S counters that Solano County purchased had not been certified by Debra Boowen - Secretary of State.

Benicia First! will be there. There will
probably be a Whitney presence.

Getting there at 1:00 might be helpful to see that
the counter is set at "0".

[LATER YET, 11:06 AM] A Benicia Independent source reports having a conversation just moments ago with Lindsey McWilliams, Assistant Registrar of Voters. McWilliams confirmed the 1:15pm start time of the counting of absentee ballots today. Further, McWilliams described the 2nd floor Registrar offices as having a large room next to the counting room with a glass window so that the process can be observed by interested parties.

McWilliams was aware of a rumor that 100 Absentee Ballots had been delivered to a Polling Place yesterday; however, he talked to the officers in charge of the Polling Precincts and the rumor was not confirmed. He confirmed that any Absentee Ballots not received by 8:00 PM Tuesday night are not counted, but that any late ballots received would be "sequestered" at his office. Asked if any ballots had been "sequestered," he said that he was not aware of any, but that he has been busy dealing with the media and that there might be some sequestered ballots.