Critical Pickleball Update
YES takes the lead.
Readers — the pickleballers have taken the lead. As of Nov. 21st, the Ojai City Hall pickleball enthusiasts are leading by 13 votes!
Since our last update on Nov. 19th, the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s office counted 19 additional Measure O votes — 17 of which went to the “Yes” side. We can’t know how many more City of Ojai ballots are out there — but I’d bet it’s not many. (I’d also bet this matter is heading for a recount.)
"I keep checking the updates and I CANNOT believe we might have to live with pickleball across the street again!” City Hall neighbor and “No” supporter Lisa Braithwaite commented.
Over on the “Yes” side, Brenda Krout is excited, but “we’re not going overboard,” she said. “It could change again.” Krout confirmed Nov. 21 marks the first time election results show the “Yes” campaign in the lead.
The Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s office estimates that approximately 632 (“provisionals, etc.”) ballots are yet to be counted. I’ll note that the Ojai Valley News reported on an “unprecedented” number of provisional voters in the Ojai Valley Nov. 5th. Could these remaining provisionals be those Ojai Valley provisionals? Again — there is no way to know.
Wait — what’s a provisional ballot? It’s a ballot cast by a voter whose name isn’t on the voter registration list when they show up to the polling place. Or, they’re a voter who (for whatever reason) doesn’t have their mail-in ballot. These provisional ballots can take longer to count due to the subsequent verification process.
Here’s another interesting detail: these results show that 22 Ojai voters weighed in on the pickleball matter — and skipped the mayoral race.
The Clerk’s office further stated Nov. 21 that 4,030 “uncured ballots” are still to be counted. (Ballots in need of curing have a signature issue — the signature on the ballot doesn’t match the signature on the voter’s driver’s license, or the voter forgot to sign the ballot entirely.)
According to Ventura County’s Election Smart! blog, the county reaches out by mail to voters whose ballots need curing. Voters can also track their ballot’s progress through the county' clerk’s office here. I confirmed my own ballot was processed on Nov. 12th!
What’s next? We’ll get another update on Tuesday, Nov. 26th at 4 p.m. The final results will be certified Dec. 4th. For those who want to learn more about the vote-counting process, check out this blog post from the Clerk’s office.
Finally, for those curious about the presidential election results here in Ventura County — I was too.
At present, county-wide voter turnout is estimated at 76%.
Until Tuesday!
Wondering if the results would be different if the Measure statement was put in voters guide! Was it left out intentionally? No on O people had to spend their own money to spread the information! Just saying……