Voter turnout was not great for the primary election on June 7; with slightly less than 17 percent of registered voters in Stanislaus County casting ballots, according to figures posted by the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters.
In a local race of note, Robert ‘Bob’ Amaral was leading the way in the race to fill an unexpired term on the Oakdale City Council. Amaral, at press time, had 572 votes between the vote center and vote by mail totals, for just under 26 percent of the votes cast. Second was Kevin Davis, a candidate who notified city officials in Oakdale he was withdrawing from the race, but whose name remained on the ballot because he did not file the proper paperwork in time. He had 517 votes (23 percent) even though he did not campaign and did not take part in a hosted candidate forum prior to the election.
In third was Kayleigh Gilbert, 468 votes; fourth was Jennifer Harris with 391 votes; and Anthony Pratt was in fifth with 259 votes.
There was a significant amount of confusion regarding the ballot, as Davis had withdrawn but appeared as one of five candidates for the open seat.
“Mr. Davis pulled papers for the June 7, 2022 Election on February 14, 2022 and filed papers on February 25, 2022. On March 23, 2022, Mr. Davis contacted the City stating he wanted to withdraw from the Election,” explained Oakdale Council Services and Legislative Records Manager Colleen Andersen. “Mr. Davis was advised that per Elections Code Section 10224: A candidate may only withdraw their nomination papers during the candidate filing period, which for the June 7, 2022 Election would have been February 14, 2022 – March 11, 2022. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis missed the deadline to withdraw, therefore his name remained on the ballot.”
The county has not yet certified the election results so the outcome is not official, though it appears as though Bob Amaral will win the seat.
County Registrar of Voters Donna Linder released the following update on Monday, June 13.
“The Elections Office continues to scan each vote by mail envelope to credit voters with casting a ballot and check the signature on each envelope against the signature located on each voter’s original affidavit of registration, ballots are then sorted, and prepared for count.
California law now extends the time period VBM ballots must be accepted beyond Election Day and will increase the number of ballots to be processed. Assembly Bill 37 extends the dates postmarked VBM ballots are timely received from 8 p.m. on Election Day for seven additional days
The duplication process involving damaged, military, and overseas ballots to enable them ultimately to be counted will begin this week and is anticipated to continue throughout the canvass.
Preparation for the 1 percent hand tally of the vote is underway, the tally will begin this week and continue until complete.”
If the vote totals hold, Amaral will be sworn in to the unexpired term on the Oakdale council. California law requires certification of this election to be on or before Thursday July 7, 2022, which is 30 days following Election Day.
There were a number of uncontested races. Stanislaus County Sheriff-Coroner Jeff Dirkse was unopposed in his bid for re-election, receiving 37,501 votes. Jeff Laugero ran unopposed in his bid to replace outgoing District Attorney Birgit Fladager, receiving 36,025 votes. Also running unopposed was Donna Riley for Treasurer-Tax Collector, polling 36,201 votes. Donna Linder was unopposed for the Clerk-Recorder post and received 36,990 votes. Also running unopposed was incumbent Scott Kuykendall, receiving 34,692 votes as the County Superintendent of Schools.
More information regarding the General Election is available on the Stanislaus Registrar of Voters website at: stanvote.com.
