Following a neck-in-neck race and a vote recount, Vice Chair of the Planning and Transportation Commission Keith Reckdahl amassed 10 more votes than candidate Doria Summa and has claimed the fourth and final seat on the Palo Alto City Council, according to a Palo Alto Online article.
The tension-filled race was fueled by a controversy over the format of candidates’ names on Palo Alto’s electronic voting machines. To see Summa’s name on the second page, voters were required to click the “MORE” button while all the other eight candidates’ names were visible on the first page.
“This is a very unfortunate situation and it disadvantages one candidate compared to the others,” Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone said in a Nov. 5 email blast to community members. “If you know anyone voting today, please let them know about this issue ASAP.”
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters released their unofficial vote tally on Monday evening, which indicated that Reckdahl obtained 11,561 votes and Summa received 11,551 votes. The official results of the race will be certified today, likely confirming Reckdahl’s win, according to Steve Goltiao, a Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Associate Communications officer.
Summa and Reckdahl received the same amount of votes by mail, yet Reckdahl received 980 votes by the electronic voting machines on Election Day, beating out Summa’s 968 votes.
By Nov. 25, it was confirmed that Reckdahl had garnered a 10-vote lead preceding the recount.
With the recount results finalized, Reckdahl and fellow commissioner George Lu will join the Palo Alto City Council as the only new faces, replacing councilmembers Lydia Kou and Greg Tanaka.
