Santa Barbara County elections officials announced that candidates and voters awaiting updated election counts will need to wait until Thursday afternoon, as reported by Noozhawk. The office released its final semi-official election night update at 1:48 a.m. on Wednesday, revealing several close local races across the county where candidates remain within a few hundred votes of one another.
Deputy Registrar of Voters Martin Cobos explained the process currently underway at the elections office. Cobos noted that staff members are actively unpacking ballots that were dropped off at polling locations on election day, as well as handling mail received through the United States Postal Service postmarked by Nov. 3. Cobos stated that the office will not speculate or guess on the quantity of remaining uncounted ballots until official estimates are prepared on Thursday afternoon. The elections office plans to release both an estimate of the remaining uncounted ballots and updated election results around that same time.
The initial results processed early Wednesday morning account for a 35.8% voter turnout countywide. Several key municipal and county-level contests remain unresolved as staff process the remaining mail-in and drop-off ballots.
In the contested race for the Fifth District seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, candidate Ricardo Valencia expanded his lead over opponent Maribel Aguilera in the early Wednesday update. The semi-official tallies show Valencia holding 51.7% of the counted vote, while Aguilera holds 47.7%. Early turnout numbers for the district show that 23.4% of total registered votes have been counted so far, amounting to 7,497 tallied ballots out of 32,048 total votes in the district.
Speaking about the early results, Valencia told Noozhawk that he felt immense pride in running an ethical campaign without taking funds from big corporations or special interests. He expressed gratitude to the community for its support and emphasized that he wants to honor every vote while awaiting the final official count. Aguilera also shared her perspective on the ongoing count, telling Noozhawk she was grateful to participate in the election and thankful for her supporters and voters. She noted that the contest remains open and that she is patiently waiting for all ballots to be processed. The Fifth District supervisor seat represents northern neighborhoods in Santa Maria, the city of Guadalupe, and the unincorporated subdivision of Tanglewood. The seat is being vacated by long-time Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, who was first elected to the board in 2010 and announced he would retire at the end of the year rather than seek reelection.
In the Santa Barbara mayor's race, current Council Member Eric Friedman maintained a lead in the semi-official tallies with 46.5% of the vote. Council Member Kristen Sneddon trailed behind in second place with 44.7% of the vote, putting her 374 votes behind Friedman. Candidates Wendy Sims-Moten and Matt Kilrain held 5.8% and 2.6% of the vote, respectively, in the early Wednesday results.
Other local contests reflect exceptionally tight margins following the initial election night tally. In the race for Buellton City Council District 1, candidates Billy Silvola and Mark Williams were separated by just nine votes. Silvola held a narrow lead with 50.8% of the vote compared to 49.2% for Williams. Meanwhile, in the Lompoc City Council District 2 race, incumbent Council Member Victor Vega held a 49-vote lead over challenger Sharlameigne Segovia in the preliminary counts released Wednesday morning.
County elections staff will continue processing arriving mail ballots and polling place drop-offs ahead of the scheduled Thursday afternoon release.
