A San Bernardino councilman who lost reelection by 600 votes last month has asked the county Registrar of Voters for a recount.
Henry Nickel, the incumbent 5th Ward representative who recently lost his bid for a second term on the City Council, also has challenged his opponent’s eligibility to run for office.
First-time candidate Ben Reynoso outpaced Nickel in the Nov. 3 general election and is set to be sworn into his post Dec. 16.
Nickel, however, contends Reynoso was not a resident of nor a registered voter in San Bernardino for the requisite 30 days before filing for candidacy ahead of March’s primary election.
Former City Clerk Gigi Hanna said Monday, Dec. 7, that before being certified as a candidate in the spring, Reynoso’s background was checked by the county Registrar of Voters, who verifies every candidate’s eligibility by checking his or her driver’s license against his or her record.
“I’m not giving any media attention to whatever Henry has going on,” Reynoso said in a text message Monday. “People speak through their votes and 600 votes is a significant margin. I am ready for his concession though, as we need to transition successfully for the 5th Ward and the city of San Bernardino.”
Six candidates ran for the 5th Ward seat in March, with Nickel and Reynoso advancing to last month’s runoff as the top two vote-getters.
Of the 12,638 ballots cast in the 5th Ward in the Nov. 3 election, 5,772 went for Reynoso and 5,172 went for Nickel. There were 1,692 undervotes, or ballots that were not counted because of unclear marking by the voter, and two overvotes, or ballots where an elector cast more votes than allowed in the race.
Nickel has requested the Registrar of Voters hand count all ballots by precinct.
“A lot of unique things happened in this election,” Nickel said Monday. “We want to verify the results and make sure we’re comfortable with the outcome. A lot of residents have called me and they’re concerned. We think it’s appropriate to verify the results.”
As of early Tuesday, Dec. 8, the county Registrar of Voters was determining the cost of a recount.
