Sunroom Desk

Ron Borucki and Rafi Manoukian were both on hand Friday, April 17, for the Glendale 2009 city election final count and certification. About five city staff members and two outside contractors worked inside the Perkins Community Room on Friday (compared to about 15 staff members on election night), and about fifteen other people, some representing candidates, gathered in an observation area to watch the proceedings.

Sunroom Desk contacted Elaine Wilkerson, who worked on Laura Friedman’s campaign and became very interested in the election process, for background on this year’s ballot counting and certification.

Wilkerson and 3 other campaign volunteers stayed at city hall on election night from 8 p.m. till 1 a.m., watching as the returns were tallied. She said it was fascinating to see the returns come in by precinct and reflect the campaign’s targeted canvassing. “I’ve never seen it up close; its quite an experience, and makes you realize you should get involved.”

The Friday certification took just one hour, said Wilkerson. Contractors fed ballots into a machine for the final count and produced a one-page summary report. The city manager and deputy city manager were on hand for the certification (on election night they were not in the room with city staff processing the ballots).

A fairly thick detailed report, with voting results listed by precinct, can be obtained from the city.