Latest Tabulation Gives Garcetti a Bigger Lead

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has extended his lead over challenger John Lynch to 4,347 votes, gaining 901 votes in counting conducted Tuesday, election officials said.

With 18,808 more ballots counted Tuesday, Garcetti, the incumbent who has maintained a slim lead since election night, inched closer to clinching victory over Lynch, who heads the Norwalk branch of the district attorney’s office.

But the race is still not officially over.

A few hundred absentee ballots and 20,000 to 25,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted, election officials said. About 2.2 million ballots have been counted.

It remains unclear whether all remaining ballots will be counted by Thursday, when the next update is to be issued. Under law, all ballots must be counted by next Tuesday.

In results posted the day after the Nov. 5 election, Garcetti held a 6,836-vote lead. As absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Lynch cut that lead roughly in half, down to 3,165 votes.

A provisional ballot is given at a polling place to people who insist that they have a right to vote but have no proof of registration. It is tallied only when election officials confirm that proof, and about half of all provisional ballots end up not counting, Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack has said.

As the tallying continued last week, Garcetti had increased his lead to 3,446 by Friday.

In Tuesday’s count, Garcetti got 8,423 votes, or 52.8%. Lynch got 7,522, or 47.2%.

The totals do not add up to 18,808 because not all ballots included a vote for district attorney.

Including Tuesday’s results, the totals now break down like this: Garcetti, 1,118,193, or 50.1%; Lynch, 1,113,846, or 49.9%.

Two other Los Angeles County contests also remain undecided.

In the contest for the 43rd Assembly District in the Glendale-Burbank area, Democrat Scott Wildman added Tuesday to his narrow lead over Republican John Geranios.

Wildman’s lead had slipped Friday to 81 votes. It increased Tuesday to 128 with Wildman leading, 49,210 to 49,082, or 48.32% to 48.19%

The two are vying to succeed James Rogan (R-Glendale), who has been elected to Congress.

Measure K, which would raise $776 million over 30 years to repair decaying Los Angeles city parks, is also still passing--barely.

Before Tuesday’s count, the measure was winning approval by 628 votes. Afterward, the margin was 1,808. The totals: 363,617 to 361,809, or 50.12% to 49.88%.

The measure needs a bare majority to pass.