GLENDALE : College Board Seat Hinges on Absentees

A handful of votes that remain uncounted after Glendale’s municipal election last week will be tallied Monday and could change the results in the unusual contest for the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees, officials said Thursday.

The city will recount all ballots cast, at the request of candidates Martin Pilgreen and Victor King. Pilgreen edged out King for the second of two open board seats by just 19 votes in a preliminary tally.

But when an additional 93 provisional ballots were counted a few days after the election, Pilgreen had 5,166 votes to King’s 5,162, a lead of just four votes.

Because of a difference between state and local election codes, precinct workers did not count an estimated 25 to 30 additional absentee ballots that were turned in on Election Day because the deadline for absentee voting was 5 p.m. the day before the election.

But City Atty. Scott Howard said Thursday those votes will be included in the recount, which could swing the election in King’s favor.

“In my view we are required to count those absentees that were turned in at the polls,” Howard said.

In statewide elections, absentee ballots are accepted on Election Day, and the Glendale election falls under state law, because it was a consolidated City Council, school board and college board contest, he said.

The additional votes will have no effect on the council and school board races, officials said.

Pilgreen, who had dropped out of the race two weeks before the election, was sworn into office at a Monday evening ceremony. He will be required to resign his post and King will be sworn in if the election results change, officials said.

Because the results in the race were so close, King and Pilgreen jointly requested a vote recount last week and have agreed to split the cost. That includes $500 rental for a vote-counting machine, $100 per hour for the person who operates it and various other personnel costs.

The recount will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday at City Hall.