Local : Final Tally of Absentee Ballots in Orange County Is Released

Orange County Registrar of Voters Donald Tanney released final vote totals today after workers spent the weekend tabulating about 55,000 absentee ballots from the Nov. 6 election held up by a court challenge from a state attorney general candidate.

The additional votes did not change the outcome of any races in the county, including two City Council battles where the candidates were virtually neck-and-neck. In Costa Mesa, City Council candidate Jay Humphrey widened his narrow lead over Karen McGlinn, and Anaheim City Councilman Irv Pickler maintained his lead over Miriam Kaywood.

In the 72nd Assembly District, where freshman Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) had held out slim hopes of closing the gap on Democratic challenger Tom Umberg, it was Umberg who got the majority of the remaining votes, winning the race by 1,836 votes.

The vote count was halted by a court order Nov. 10 after attorney general candidate Arlo Smith’s campaign complained that the tabulation procedures violated state laws designed to prevent fraudulent applications for absentee ballots. Smith dropped the complaint Friday but still has a second lawsuit pending challenging absentee ballot procedures statewide. Lungren won 392,456 votes, and Smith received 194,013.

In the race for governor, Republican Pete Wilson’s final margin over Dianne Feinstein in Orange County was about 216,000 votes.