Signal Hill : Recount Doesn’t Change Result of Council Election

A recount of ballots for the Signal Hill City Council has not altered election results, city officials said.

At the request of a resident, four poll workers and three city officials recounted half of the city’s precincts and all the absentee votes, City Clerk Kris Beard said. They found that George Papadakis gained one vote and Mike Noll lost one in Precinct 3. Sara Dodds Hanlon gained one vote through an absentee ballot that had not been counted earlier.

Beard attributed the differences to human error in the original count. The recount, he said, “verified what I already believed--that there wouldn’t be any change in the result.”

Officials tallied the ballots at the request of community activist Patricia Moynihan, who will be charged $2,300 for the recount. Moynihan sought the recount on behalf of Papadakis, who lost his bid for one of three City Council seats on the April 14 ballot. Papadakis trailed Councilman Richard Ceccia by 25 votes.