Burbank officials promise quicker reporting of election results

Amid criticism of delayed results during the Burbank primary election in February, during which final numbers weren’t announced until roughly 12:45 a.m., city officials say they have plans to release initial results earlier in the evening for the April 9 general election.

During the February primary, officials collected roughly 1,500 ballots in the last three hours before the ballot drop-off centers closed at 7 p.m.

And before officials started counting any of the 9,811 votes — including the more than 8,000 that were already turned in and validated — they waited to validate the signatures on the later ballots, thus delaying the overall results, said Burbank City Clerk Zizette Mullins.

During the April 9 general election, officials will conduct two counts, with the first including all ballots processed as of 5 p.m. Initial results are projected to be released by 8 p.m.

For the primary, initial results didn’t start coming in until after 10 p.m.

In addition, officials plan to encourage voters to participate early to reduce the amount of work on election night. Pre-paid postage must go through extra processing at the post office, which also slowed ballot delivery to City Hall during the primary.

City officials have met with post office officials to ensure a timely delivery for the general election, Mullins said.

The complications faced during the primary also raised questions among residents about the effectiveness of the mail-in ballot.

Resident David Piroli says he will continue to submit his ballot on the last day because he misses the feeling of going to the polls on Election Day.

“Nothing’s going to change me from doing that,” he said. “And I don’t think I’m alone.”

--

Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.