San Diego Mayor Certified by Vote

The City Council voted 6 to 1 Wednesday to certify Mayor Dick Murphy as the winner in his bid for a second term over opponent Councilwoman Donna Frye.

Frye, who cast the dissenting vote, said she cannot accept the election results until the so-called empty-oval ballots were counted. Those are ballots in which voters wrote in Frye’s name but did not darken the oval to the left of the name, as required by state law.

Two requests were filed Wednesday with the county registrar of voters asking for a recount that would determine the number of such ballots.

One request was made by news organizations, including The Times. The other was made by Santa Monica lawyer Fredric Woocher on behalf of two Frye campaign workers.

Woocher said he hoped the recount would provide information to aid in a lawsuit overturning the election. “Our goal is to get Donna elected,” Woocher said.

Both requests were made under provisions in state law that allow for recount requests within five days of the vote being certified by the county registrar of voters.

Registrar of Voters Sally McPherson declared Murphy the winner Tuesday.

A lawsuit by the League of Women Voters demanding that McPherson count the empty-oval ballots was rejected by a San Diego County Superior Court judge. The league opted not to appeal.

Frye supporters contend there are enough empty-oval ballots to push her vote total above Murphy’s. Final results show Murphy with a 2,108-vote lead.

“It’s been a long, bumpy journey, but today we finally arrived,” Murphy said after being sworn in.

Frye said she had not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

Two lawsuits have been filed seeking to declare Frye’s write-in candidacy as illegal. Both of those suits are on appeal.