Candidates in the Richmond City Council District 2 race, Cesar Zepeda (left) and Andrew Butt (center) and Antioch City Council District 1 race (Tamisha Torres-Walker in pink coat and black hat) and Joy Motts (blonde hair in black coat) and their supporters listen to the results from the hand count of the ballots by the county Elections Division staff Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. Photos by Allen D. Payton
Must be decided by lot which can include coin flip, drawing straws or Rochambeau
Elections Services Specialist Evan Ayers (right) collects counted ballots from Elections Division staff during a hand count on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
By Allen D. Payton
The ballot counting is over and in the Richmond City Council District 2 race Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda are tied at 1,921 votes each.
After the county Elections Division staff “audited all contests and found no discrepancies”, and they had “added 11 ballots to the contest, last night”. Those were from the ballots that were challenged due to a lack of signature on the outside envelope of a mail-in ballot or the voter’s signature didn’t match what is on file.
Assistant Registrar of Voters, Helen Nolan said there were 3,842 votes cast in the race with 1,921 votes for Butt and Zepeda.
“Those are going to be our official numbers”, she added, referring to when the election is certified and announced on Friday.
According to Contra Costa County Clerk-Registrar Debbie Cooper the Elections Division conducted an expansion of their regular 1% hand tally, tomorrow morning and are including the ballots from the additional precincts in both Antioch City Council Districts 1 and 4 and the Richmond City Council districts. The process was to certify the equipment is working properly and to help in determining the outcome in the two contests. There were 1,500 challenged ballots in the county that had to be cured by 5 p.m., yesterday. She said they will certify the election by this Friday, Dec. 2.
Cesar Zepeda awaits results as Andrew Butt speaks with Antioch District City Councilwoman and former Richmond resident Tamisha Torres-Walker who was awaiting the results in her contest at the Elections Division office in Martinez on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
By city resolution the contest must now be decided by lot which can mean a flip of a coin, drawing straws, Rochambeau – rock paper scissors or whatever else the two candidates can agree on. However, Cooper said the council could approve having a run-off election but the City would have to pay for it and it could cost as much as $100,000.
Butt suggested to Zepeda, “arm wrestle?” with a laugh.
Zepeda is President of the West County Wastewater District Board and works as a health benefits consultant. Butt is a Richmond Planning Commission member and son of current Richmond Mayor Tom Butt who could not run for re-election as he is termed out.
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