More votes counted, preliminary results unchanged and AD 47 becoming closer

The polls have been closed for a week. The preliminary and most final results are known for many races. But many ballots remain to be counted.

As of 6 p.m., Saturday, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters reported that 732,722 ballots had been counted, which represents 53.4% of registered voters in the County.

However, another 225,000 ballots are still uncounted. Nearly 80% are mail-in ballots and counting has begun for these. The remaining ballots are “conditional voter registration” ballots and will require more time to verify any questions about the voter.

If all the uncounted ballots are accepted, the turnout for the 2024 Presidential Election will be 70%. For the last Presidential election in 2020, turnout in Riverside County was 81.8 %.

Statewide the turnout is 54.7% based solely on the number of ballots counted. There are still several million uncounted ballots throughout California. Projected total statewide turnout for this election would be 73%. For the 2020 election, 80.7% of California’s registered voters cast a ballot.

National

Donald Trump has been elected to a second term and Vice President Kamala Harris has conceded. However, Harris, with 58.2 % of the vote, captured California’s 54 Electoral College votes.

Riverside County favored Trump and was not the only state county that did. But Trump barely won the County. He garnered 49.2% of its ballots and Harris received 48.4 %

State

Adam Schiff, a Democrat, has defeated former Dodger Steve Garvey, the Republican candidate, to be the new California Senator. Schiff’s lead is nearly 2 million votes, 58.3% of the total. Garvey has only 41,7% of the vote, but 51.7 % of the Riverside County vote.

Schiff also has a commanding lead in the election to complete the unexpired term of former Senator Dianne Feinstein. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed EMILY’s List President Laphonza Butler to fill the seat until the election of a successor.

Congressional

As of Saturday evening, incumbent Republican Ken Calvert has about a 7,900 vote lead over challenger Will Rollins for California’s 41^(st) Congressional seat. His lead has been growing since the polls closed.

Calvert has 51.4 % of the vote, about 290,000 votes have been counted. In their 2022 race, a total of 235,000 votes were cast. In 2022, he won with 52.4% of the vote.

Former Hill Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz is winning re-election to his House seat.

State Assembly

In the hugely close 2022 race between Republican victor Gregg Wallis and his Democratic opponent Christy Holstege for the State Assembly District 47 seat, Holstege holds a very narrow lead.

At 6 p.m., Nov. 10, her lead over Wallis was 283 votes. She had the lead in the immediate days following the 2022 election, but Wallis eventually won by a total of 85 votes.

Riverside County voters supported Holstege, giving her 53.3 % of the vote and a 9,600 vote advantage. But San Bernardino voters, representing about 20% of the district, were overwhelming in favor of Wallis. He received 62.6% of their vote and a 9,350 vote advantage.

In the 36^(th) Assembly seat race, Republican Jeff Gonzalez has a 2,350 vote lead over Democrat Jose “Joey” Acuna. This District includes portions of Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. The Riverside County voters gave Gonzalez a 3,750 lead. Acuna’s strength was in Imperial County.

Local

“I am very humbled and surprised and proud,” Priefer said. “I want to hear from the people. What changes do they really want?”

Board President Dr. Charles “Chip” Schelly is second with 438 votes.

Surprisingly, former Director Steve Kunkle, who resigned in October and vowed no interest in returning to the IWD Board, lead Board Vice President Peter Szabadi. Kunkle has 341 votes and Szabadi has 286 votes.

On Friday, Nov. 8, in a text message to the Town Crier, Kunkle reaffirmed his intention to decline the election results.

If he does decline a new position on the Board, Elisabeth Florer, of the County’s Registrar of Voters Office, said in an email that the Board will have to declare a vacancy. By law, it has 60 days to fill the vacancy, from the announcement of it.

Schelly said that the Board has been advised to wait until January to declare the vacancy, which means the appointment of the fifth director would be delayed until February or March. This appointment would be for two years. Then, an election would be held to fill the remaining two years of the term.

Propositions

There were 10 different propositions on the November ballot. As of early Wednesday evening, California’s Secretary of State is reporting that six have more “Yes” votes than “No” and four are likely to fail.

Propositions 2 and 4, bond measures for schools and environmental projects, Prop 3, the constitutional right to marriage, Prop 34, restricts spending of prescription revenues, Prop 35, permanent funding for medi-cal, and Prop 36, increased sentencing for certain drug and theft crimes, have received more “Yes” than “No.” Of the six being approved, all but Prop 34, which addresses spending of prescription revenues, are leading by more than 57%. “Yes” on Prop 34 currently has just 51% of the votes.

Currently trailing approval are Props 5, bonds for affordable housing and infrastructure, Prop 6, eliminates forcing inmates to work, Prop 32, raises minimum wage, and Prop 33, local government residential rent control. Of these four, the closest race is for Prop 32, minimum wage, which has 51.5% against and 48.5% in favor. Of the other three, all have garnered more than 54% opposed.

Riverside County voters had the same opinions of the ten propositions. They favored Props 2, 3, 4, 34, 35, and 36; while opposing Props 5, 6, 32, and 33.

Nearly three-quarters of the County’s voters supported Prop 36, slightly more than the statewide support of 70%. Nearly 55% of County voters, opposed the minimum wage increase, Prop 32.