News reports today informed us that Mission Viejo City Councilman Lance MacLean, the current appointed Mayor, was recalled by the very narrow margin of just 19 votes in the city recall election held last Tuesday. After spending the extraordinary amount of $105,000 to oppose the recall (or about $15 a vote) (one wonders who did the union’s polling!) and lose by just 19 votes, the Orange County Deputy Sheriff’s union might want to demand a "recount" just to satisfy any doubts individual union members might have about the results, or the wisdom, of dumping such a large amount of precious PAC funds down the drain on just this small part of the County.
If union members want a recount, however, they will have to pay for it, adding insult to injury. Under the law, a County Registrar may initiate a recount where he/she believes there has been a miscount of the vote. However, today’s news reports make it clear that the County Registrar’s office, through their spokesperson, has full confidence in their election count. Where the government does not initiate a recount, the law allows any "voter" in the district to request one on behalf of a candidate, however, the "voter" must deposit money in the form of one day’s staff work by the County Registrar’s office, to get the recount started. In other words, the losing side has to pay for the recount. If the vote changes as a result of the recount, the "voter" gets his/her/its money back.
I doubt that Lance MacLean will post the money on his own to force a recount. I’m sure he would be tired of the whole process by now and not see it as a fruitful step. But will the Deputy’s union sink even more PAC money into this losing proposition for them, given the looming Sheriff’s race countywide? I highly doubt it. I think the whole thing is over now in Mission Viejo. Or should be.