The Chula Vista City Council race between elected councilman John McCann and opponent Steve Padilla is heading to court.? ?A civil suit filed Friday by Chula Vista resident Aurora Clark in San Diego Superior Court is challenging provisional ballots that the Registrar of Voters did not include in the election count.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Clark and all registered voters of Chula Vista. ? ?”I really believe that everybody has the right to exercise not only their right to vote but also deserves to have their vote counted,” Clark said.
Clark is represented by attorney John Moot, who filed the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is challenging 15 uncounted ballots, said attorney John Moot.
The Registrar of Voters disqualified hundreds of provisional ballots because they weren’t filled out correctly, did not have a signature or a voter had a P.O. Box. ? ?Defendants in the lawsuit include McCann and the San Diego County Registrar of Voters Michel Vu.
Moot said McCann is named as a defendant because a legal statute says the certified winner of the election must be named. ? Moot supported Padilla in his campaign but insists that this has everything to do with voters not being able to get their votes counted.
“This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “If there is one thing I think all registered voters can agree on is that if you cast a ballot on Election Day, your vote should be counted.
McCann said in a statement that the lawsuit is meaningless.
“We were legally certified by the Registrar of Voters as the winner a month ago (12/2/14) and our focus is doing the business of the people of Chula Vista,” the statement reads. “We won the election, we won the audit, they stopped the recount because I was gaining votes and now they are going to waste tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a frivolous lawsuit. It’s time to focus on the needs of Chula Vistans and move forward.”
Padilla sent out an email to supporters Friday night.
“After a close and hard fought campaign, I have called Councilmember John McCann to wish him, Mayor Salas and the entire City Council well and success in the coming year,” he wrote.
“While I remain committed to the principle that all valid ballots cast should be counted in every election regardless of the result, I am focused on the future and the many opportunities for our community’s success.”
The legal action takes place roughly two weeks after Padilla supporters halted a re-count to re-examine the 36,894 votes cast in the November election.
On Nov. 4 McCann was ahead of Padilla by a few hundred votes but as the weeks wore on Padilla narrowed McCann’s margin of victory to a mere handful of votes. When Registrar of Voter Michael Vu certified the final results on Dec. 2, McCann had won 18,448 votes to Padilla’s 18,446.
McCann was sworn into office Dec. 9.
