COUNTYWIDE : Results of Election Certified by Clerk

After a week of hand-counting votes to check computer figures, Ventura County Clerk Richard D. Dean on Wednesday certified the results of the Nov. 6 election, including the victory of a new school board member who won by one vote.

“I’m very happy about it and eager to start working,” said Lloyd G. Simpson Jr., who was elected to the Briggs Elementary School Board by one vote. “Hopefully, the new board can make a difference in the next four years.”

The certified results show that Simpson, a forestry biologist at UC Santa Barbara, edged out Jeff Williams by a vote of 256 to 255 for a seat on the rural school board, which oversees two elementary schools outside Santa Paula.

Williams, a pest-control manager at Limoneira Co., said he was “99% sure” that he would not request a recount at his own expense.

“I’m told that they were going to do some extra checking on this race because it was so close,” Williams said. “At this point, I’d say, congratulations, Lloyd Simpson. I know he’ll do a good job.”

The results released Wednesday also showed that Mindy Lorenz, a write-in candidate for the fledgling Green Party, received 394 votes in the congressional race that reelected Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura).

Her low vote total accounted for about 1/2% of the votes cast in Ventura County in the 19th Congressional District contest. Santa Barbara County, which is also included in the district, will not have its write-in votes tallied until next week, an official said.

Jenny Harrison, a Ventura County deputy county clerk, said the week of hand-counting ballots turned up no discrepancies in vote totals tallied by computer on election night.

She said Dean signed a form Wednesday that certified the election results. At its meeting Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors will take formal action to declare results official.