San Francisco Officials Find 240 More Ballots

Days after the lids of eight ballot boxes were found floating in San Francisco Bay, the city Department of Elections announced it has found an additional 240 ballots that were not counted in the election earlier this month.

They were expected to be counted Thursday, more than two weeks after the results of the Nov. 6 election were announced.

A call to the Department of Elections was not returned; the department issued an earlier statement saying that the ballots had been located as a “result of the continuing canvassing.”

The election, which included races for city attorney, treasurer and several ballot measures, has not been certified by the Board of Supervisors. Proponents of at least one measure, which lost by a small margin, are questioning the results.

Proposition F was declared a loser by 533 votes on Nov. 11. It would have expanded the city’s public utilities commission into a department of water and power, allowing an elected board to buy the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. infrastructure to serve the city.

Though the 240 ballots would not affect the outcome of that vote, Ross Mirkarimi, campaign manager for the public power measure, said he’s frustrated about a number of ongoing questions being asked about the election.

The Coast Guard discovered the ballot box lids floating in the bay Sunday. Election officials have said a storm Saturday blew the lids off empty boxes stored at the Department of Elections’ Pier 29 warehouse.