El Centro, California - The Imperial County Registrar of Voters office has certified the election results from the June 7, 2016 primary election.  This election’s voter turnout increased from 30% to 38% compared to the last election with 6,421 more residents voting.

There are 63,133 registered voters in Imperial County with 169 precincts, of which 117 precincts are vote-by-mail and 52 are polling sites.  The voting process on Election Day is a substantial undertaking that requires months of preparation and is supported by Imperial County Elections Department staff and more than 150 hard-working volunteers.

Another option for registered voters is to vote pre-election day through early voting at the Registrar’s Office. Although not many voters took advantage of the early voting alternative, additional outreach will be done before the next election to inform the public about the opportunity.

During this election, the Registrar of Voters identified several issues which were immediately addressed.  Due to clerical error by the Registrar of Voters in adjusting the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) precinct lines, it was discovered that 413 registered voters received ballots that failed to include the IID Division 2 race.  In addition, 54 voters received ballots that inadvertently included the IID Division 2 race.  These errors, even if each of these voters properly participated in the election, would not change the outcome of the Division 2 race election results.

The two candidates running for the IID Division 2 Director position are Bruce Kuhn and Dilda McFadden.  The Registrar of Voters certified election results for the IID Division 2 race shows that Mr. Kuhn received 2,703 votes while Mr. McFadden received 1,991 votes providing Mr. Kuhn with 712 votes margin of victory.  Even assuming 100% of the ballot errors were tabulated in favor of Mr. McFadden, Mr. Kuhn would still have won the election by 245 votes.

The certified election results can be viewed online at the Registrar of Voters’ webpage at www.co.imperial.ca.us/regvoters.  The Registrar of Voters will present for acceptance the certified election results at the Imperial County Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting next Tuesday, July 12, 2016 at the Westmorland Union Elementary School Multipurpose Room at 6:00 p.m.

For more information, contact the Registrar of Voters’ office at (442) 265-1060.