No matter how many factors played into San Benito County's failure to release even somewhat complete election results days after polls closed Tuesday night, the bottom line is that the elections department didn't get the job done and, in doing so, has left many candidates and interested citizens uncertain about local races.
Head elections official Joe Paul Gonzalez attributed the delay to four factors - high turnout, a large ballot, a tallying room not being available due to a booked court calendar and San Benito County having only one counting machine.
Those are all challenges, but each of them should have been prevented.
-Regarding turnout, was it a surprise to anybody?
-It certainly wasn't a surprise by Election Day, meanwhile, that there was a busy ballot.
-If a courtroom is booked or potentially could be, county officials must work together to solve the problem, and elections officials must insist that happens.
-One counting machine isn't enough, and hasn't been in recent years, so county officials should have arranged for at least another one prior to Election Day.
It comes back to a lack of preparation
The bottom line is that this comes back to a lack of preparation, and Gonzalez ultimately needs to be held accountable as the department's leader.
This merely cannot happen again, while Gonzalez and other county leaders have an obligation now to make sure that's the case and treat it with a sense of urgency so that citizens can regain trust in the local election process. In a sense, it's an eye-opener to the insufficiencies that undoubtedly have led to longer and longer delays over the years for election results here, and it's time to end the uncertainty for good.
It's time to make our most sacred right a priority.
Gonzalez had done, to be fair, a laudable job revamping his department. But in this case, he failed. From here, he must take charge as the department's leader and insist he gets the resources he needs. He must be better prepared.
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