Local News in Brief : Recount Doesn’t Affect Race

A recount Wednesday by Redondo Beach election officials failed to change the outcome of the March 7 City Council contest in District 4, in which no candidate gained a majority. Candidates Valerie Dombrowski and Terry Ward will face each other in the May 16 runoff.

The recount added one ballot to Dombrowski’s column, leaving her with 468 votes--still three short of the 50%-plus-one total that she needed to avoid the runoff and be declared the winner. Ward lost one vote in the new tally, and the total for the third candidate, Barry Ogle, remained the same.

Deputy City Clerk Linda Gregory said Ward lost a vote when election officials discovered a miscount in one precinct’s absentee ballots. They gave another vote to Dombrowski when the hand count turned up one ballot that had not been tallied by a computer March 7, possibly because a loose speck of paper had blocked a hole in the ballot card, she said.

Gregory said Dombrowski, who requested the recount, will be billed $180 to cover the costs. The races for mayor and for the District 2 council seat will also be decided in the May 16 runoff.