Close eyes on Measure Y as final results come in

“Different people have different viewpoints on how to handle our housing shortage,” she said.

Ross said in an email update on Monday opponents of Measure Y had helped voters “cure” five ballots last weekend to potentially decrease their deficit down to five. “Curing” is a process in which voters get a limited window to legally fix their ballots because of a missing or unreadable signature so their ballot can be counted. People and organizations can call to notify voters their ballot wasn’t counted. Ross said she was working on getting a new list of rejected ballots and names to call, although she had not received the list yet as of Tuesday.

Michael Weinhauer, a spokesman for San Mateans for Responsive Government, a pro Measure Y organization, said he and others will wait to hear the final results before taking any action. He said the campaign only had $40,000 to work with and relied on volunteers and a small team to campaign against big-money donors. Their money limitations constrained them during the campaign, but he was proud of their efforts. Despite all the work, he acknowledged this was a close campaign without a clear winner.

“It’s certainly a roller coaster. I think for us, I think it is really reflective of San Mateo and where we are,” Weinhauer said. “We don’t necessarily have a consensus.”

Weinhauer said his side was aware they could cure ballots. His organization also has the data to cure ballots, but it doesn’t have any specific plans to call people at this point. He said there was too much unpredictability in curing votes.

“Any attempt to cure, you don’t know how somebody voted or how they are going to vote. You don’t know if that vote is going to go for or against. Any effort you put forth could end up backfiring on you,” he said.

Weinhauer said data for curing is available from the San Mateo County Elections Office. Data includes information on party preference and who got a letter stating their ballot didn’t count. To obtain information on voter data, an organization or person must sign up for an account, provide a good reason for why they want the data and sign a document saying they will not share it.

The close race for Measure Y also increased campaign tension in San Mateo ahead of the election. Weinhauer said people stole pro Measure Y signs in busy areas, and volunteers had to take down signs at night and put them back up in the morning. He even had two signs taken from his lawn by the same man after reviewing his security video.

With the vote so close, a recount is possible for both sides if they lose. Ross wouldn’t confirm if they would ask for a recount, but Weinhauer said they would ask for a recount if Measure Y failed.

Any voter may request a recount within five days after completion of the official count. There is no automatic recount, and the closeness of the contest does not trigger a recount. Voters may request a recount no matter the margin, said San Mateo County Chief Election Officer Mark Church. Church said his office is still accepting ballots by mail postmarked on or before Election Day, provided they receive them by Nov. 20. Church said his office still has to count a small number of conditional voter registration provisional ballots, which require verification of voter eligibility, and a few challenged ballots, which have missing or mismatched signatures. Whoever asks for a recount must pay for it.

If Measure Y passes, the San Mateo City Council couldn’t increase current height and density limits without voter approval for 10 years. Current building height limits are 55 feet or about five stories and limited to 50 units per acre. With 50 percent needed to pass, Measure Y is now up 50.01 percent with 22,892 votes in favor to 49.99 percent with 22,882 votes against.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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