Mendo is STILL counting votes! AF loses, AG is too close to call, council elections are still unclear

UPDATE WEDNESDAY – Counting in Mendo is not over

All precincts are reporting, all mail in ballots received before yesterday have been counted, BUT mail-in ballots are still trickling in, vote-by-mail ballots hand delivered to precincts are just now being counted, and provisional ballots are also still being counted. Some races with narrow margins remain undecided.

County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Susan Ranochak has said that today she and the elections staff will merely be counting the number of remaining ballots manually, but will not process any additional ballots. She refuses to give an answer as to when the final election results will done, saying she will update the final results when the canvas is complete. Ranochak said that she hopes to be able to provide the press with the final number of how many county ballots remain to be processed by tomorrow morning.

With 51,035 registered voters in the county, only 12,032 ballots have been counted, or about 24% of registered voters. Several precincts workers reported higher than average turn out yesterday so it seems to be the case that many thousands of votes remain to be counted.

We will keep updating today, and hopefully will know the results of local elections by tonight. Ranochak said she may have a final number of ballots needing processing by the end of business day today.

NATIONAL AND STATE

Clinton carried Mendo, currently at about 59% of the vote.

Congressman Huffman will stay as our representative for the California Second Congressional District, having won 76% of vote across the district, and standing at about 72% in Mendo.

Assemblyman Jim Wood also won a resounding victory, standing at 74% in Mendo.

California State Attorney General Kamala Harris won by a large margin statewide, and will succeed Barbara Boxer as senator.

Prop 64 won by a sizable margin as well, meaning legal weed is coming to California in 2017, and a complex and uncertain future for the North Coast.

SEE FULL FULL STATE RESULTS HERE.

COUNTY MEASURES:

SEE FULL COUNTY RESULTS HERE.

Remember measure AG, because it is a tax provision, requires a two-thirds super-majority, so the outcome is uncertain.

While it is not mathematically impossible that measures AF and AI could see a reversal, it is extremely unlikely at this point.

——————–YES                NO

MEASURE AF        35.89            64.11

MEASURE AG       65.19            34.81

MEASURE AH       62.86            37.14

MEASURE AI        63.62            36.38

MEASURE AJ        68.75            31.25

UKIAH MEASURES:

The street repair tax measures in Ukiah also remain too close to call, though it seems likely to win, it is still unclear.

MEASURE Y         52.40           47.60

MEASURE Z         65.40            34.60

FORT BRAGG MEASURES

The transient occupancy tax (TOT, a kind of hotel tax) seems to have passed handily.

MEASURE AA       58.17           41.83

MEASURE AB       67.67           32.33

WILLITS CITY COUNCIL:

It seems very likely that Police Chief Gerardo Gonzalez will win, but the other two seats are still up for grabs.

Gerardo Gonzalez     27.98

Bruce Burton           16.65

Bill Barksdale          19.91

Saprina Rodriguez   17.39

Madge Strong         17.32

 

FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL:

Regardless of how the exact percentages shake out in Fort Brag, the results of this race seem clear.

William Lee             35.27

Bernie Norvell         34.76

Scott Menzies         19.46

Curtis Bruchler         5.48

Rex Gressett            4.62

 

UPDATE: 1:37am

With 19 precincts (representing only 7.6% of precincts) reporting, for a total of 9302 ballots cast, the current results are:

PRESIDENT:

HILLARY CLINTON   56.67%

GLORIA ESTELA LA RIV 0.31%

DONALD J. TRUMP 32.81%

GARY JOHNSON 3.45%

JILL STEIN 3.85%

Write-in Votes 2.92%

COUNTY MEASURES:

——————-YES                NO

MEASURE AF      34.63             65.37

MEASURE AG      63.18            36.82

MEASURE AH      61.13            38.87

MEASURE AI      64.85             35.15

MEASURE AJ      69.99            30.01

UKIAH MEASURES:

MEASURE Y       52.40            47.60

MEASURE Z       65.40            34.60

WILLITS CITY COUNCIL:

Gerardo Gonzalez   27.98

Bruce Burton         16.65

Bill Barksdale        19.91

Saprina Rodriguez  17.39

Madge Strong        17.32

FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL:

William Lee            34.49

Bernie Norvell        34.34

Scott Menzies        19.57

Curtis Bruchler         6.06

Rex Gressett            5.02

UPDATE: 10:30pm

With 3.2% of precincts reporting, for a total of 6976 ballots cast, the current results are:

——————-YES                NO

COUNTY MEASURES

MEASURE AF    36.2               63.8

MEASURE AG   63.19             36.81

MEASURE AH   60.95             39.05

MEASURE AI    66.77             33.23

MEASURE AJ    72.1               27.9

UKIAH MEASURES

MEASURE Y     52.53              47.47

MEASURE Z     66.77              33.23

WILLITS CITY COUNCIL

Gerardo Gonzalez   28.66

Bruce Burton          20.08

Bill Barksdale         18.62

Saprina Rodriguez  16.53

Madge Strong        15.27

FORT BRAGG COUNCIL

William Lee            34.49

Bernie Norvell        34.34

Scott menzies        19.57

Curtis Bruchler         6.06

Rex Gressett            5.02

 

UPDATE: 8pm

These are results for the 22,835 votes received by mail. They do not count any votes at the poll. Those will be counted tonight, with county election officials hoping to be done by 2am. Vote by mail (VBM) ballots delivered by hand to the polling stations today won’t be counted until tomorrow. Provisional ballots won’t be counted until tomorrow either.

ORIGINAL

Here’s our home page for coverage of today’s elections, from different polling locations around the county. We’ve got reporters in Laytonville, Willits, and Ukiah checking in with voters and poll workers about how the day is going. We’ll be updating this post throughout the day, and well into the night as ballots continue to come in and are processed.

In Mendocino County, polling stations close at 8 pm, and initial results will be coming and posted on the county’s webpage here. We’ll be including updates as we observe the polls.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for election updates.

Here’s our updates from Trump headquarters in Ukiah, Clinton headquarters in Ukiah,  Laytonville, and Willits; we’ll be updating throughout the night.

If you want to check on the status of your mail-in ballot, go here. If you want to check on the status of your voter registration, go here. If you don’t know where to vote you can check here. If you want to drop off your mail-in ballot or you have a problem with your mail-in ballot, you can request a provisional ballot at any one of the county’s polling stations, listed here — doors are open until 8pm.

More voter information can be found in our article here, or by visiting the county’s election website, or by calling the Election’s Office at (707) 234-6819.

And remember, selfies with your ballots aren’t legal in California until January 1!