06/18/08
By Jane Northrop STAFF WRITER

The adage "every vote counts" never rang so true as it did for supporters of Measure N, the Pacifica School District parcel tax ballot measure.

As of last count, Measure N was winning by 66.67 percent, exactly two thirds.

"If we had one less yes' vote, we would not have won this," said Joan Weideman, PSD board president. "We thank all our supporters. Every vote really does count."

Because the vote was so close, the results are still unofficial. The San Mateo County Elections Office has until July 1 to certify the results.

The 66.67 percent in favor was released by the elections office on Thursday after a roller coaster of results 67.04 percent last Tuesday, June 3, 66.1 percent on Wednesday, June 4, 65.9 percent on Friday, June 6 and 66.2 percent on Tuesday, June 10.

While the elections office has already counted all the ballots, it is now preparing to certify the election by taking some selected recounts.

Since the final vote tally shows a win by less than one percent, the elections office is reviewing the results from 10 percent of the Pacifica precincts, or four out of 33 precincts. Those precincts were chosen at random by a roll of a red, white and blue dice, to which each precinct was pre-assigned a roll number.

A portion of all kinds of ballots electronic, mail in and provisional are being reviewed to check for a range of potential discrepancies, from making sure mail-in ballot scanners are working properly to making sure no voters cast more than one ballot.

Weideman said she visited the elections office on Friday. She said she was impressed with the certification process.

"I feel really comfortable through the certification process that it will be a fair ballot. We have high hopes, at 66.67 percent, that is exactly how it will stay. But it has to go through the review process and I truly appreciate that, win or lose, that the process is accurate and really reflects what the people in Pacifica want," she said.

Meanwhile, the PSD board has made its draft budget public this week to give people time to review it before the next board meeting June 25 when the board is expected to adopt a budget. The budget reflects cuts the board recently made, cuts that may be reinstated if the parcel tax passes.

"If Measure N passes, we want to look at revising our budget," Weideman said.

Mary Ann Nihart, co-chair of "Save Pacifica Schools," the campaign committee to pass Measure N, said she is "incredibly optimistic" Measure N will pass in the end.

"I'm absolutely certain the process is thorough. I have great faith in the elections office. This is such a win for us. It's a win for the community. It's a win for the children of Pacifica. It's a win in terms of whom we brought together and how motivated they have been. I feel like it will be a real win, but it will take time to certify it," she said.

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