Berkeley Mayoral Election May Hang on Court Ruling

A judge will decide if “better late than never” holds true in the runoff election for mayor of Berkeley, where a smattering of last-minute absentee ballots may determine the political orientation of the city.

Although incumbent Mayor Loni Hancock appeared Wednesday to lead challenger Fred Weekes, her margin of victory was narrow enough that the outcome could hang on absentee ballots that are the focus of a court fight.

The runoff was forced when Hancock, a leader of the city’s liberal Berkeley Citizens Action Party, got 49.9% of the vote Nov. 6, narrowly missing the 50%-plus-one requirement. The liberal Democratic coalition has dominated city politics for a decade.

The outcome could be determined by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Howard Schwartz, who will hear arguments Friday on whether absentee ballots that arrived after the polls closed on Tuesday should be counted.

The election code says that absentee ballots can be counted only if received by Election Day. But opponents of Hancock say that as many as 3,000 of 8,000 requested ballots weren’t mailed out until last week, reaching voters as late as Monday.

“We won’t know the number of ballots involved for a while,” City Clerk Marie McKetchnie said Wednesday.

Hancock led Weekes, a city councilman, by only 590 votes in unofficial results of Tuesday’s election. But Weekes, a moderate Democrat who wants to eliminate “ideological practices” from City Hall, asked the judge to allow the counting of mail-in ballots postmarked before the polls closed but not received until after Election Day.

“There are a large number of uncounted ballots out there,” Weekes said. “I don’t know how large, but it could change the outcome.”

With all 116 precincts reporting, Weekes trailed Hancock 16,682 to 16,092 but led 2,403 to 1,624 among early absentee ballots, which usually favor more conservative candidates. Depending on the judge’s decision, remaining absentee ballots could change the outcome.

A spokesman for Hancock, who during the campaign promised to continue Berkeley’s liberal tradition, was confident that the mayor would remain in office given her edge.

“If the absentee ballots split in the same ratio as the earlier absentee ballots, there is no way Mr. Weekes can win the election,” said Malcom Bernstein, treasurer of the Hancock campaign.

Hancock, 52, is the most prominent member of the Berkeley Citizens Action Party, which was born in the fervor of the 1960s anti-Vietnam War, youth and civil rights movements.

The coalition lost control of the council and the rent board in the November election. Hancock’s defeat could mean the end of the group’s dominance.