Don't Count Gary Cloutier Out Just Yet

Today, duped Vallejo mayoral candidate Gary Cloutier asked a judge "to place on hold the results of the Nov. 7 election, saying vote-counting irregularities cast 'a cloud of suspicion and doubt' over the recount that put his chief opponent Osby Davis on top by two votes." (Under "a cloud of suspicion and doubt," he said? OMG, we also get totally paranoid after a weekend of hard partying. Just pulverize two Ambiens into a 16 oz bottle of Evian, and everything will be fine, Gary.)

But seriously, folks: the two-term city councilman smells treachery afoot. And with good reason. According to the Chronicle, it seems that "the vote count included at least one discarded ballot and improper supervision of the hand recount. The recount showed Davis finishing with 5,718 votes to Cloutier's 5,716." And CBS 5 bring up Patrick Farrell, a Vallejo resident and recount witness, who claims that during the recount "[b]allots were all over the place, on the floor, on tables, people were grabbing them from each other."

And both sides seem to be get more heated and frustrated by the day. ("He ain't nothing but a sore loser," a heckler cried out during Cloutier's news conference.) But we must admit that, seeing as how two counts resulted in to different results, a third recount seems more than necessary.

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By Brock Keeling in News on December 11, 2007 1:33 PM

Comments [rss]

zippy_monster

They really ought to just appoint MAP as mayor. Certainly Vallejo is closer to her place of residence than San Francisco is.

pantsgolem

I don't have any vested interest in either candidate (I probably wouldn't care much of they both got punched in the face) but why shouldn't they keep counting until two counts agree, or one party concedes? I mean really, two counts disagree, so the second is magically more accurate? Math doesn't work that way.

RicardoSF

Well, apparently a Solano County Judge *just* ruled that the recount stands, he won't block it, and Osby is the new mayor of Vallejo.

So what happens next? Does our State Supreme Court get involved? ..... or the Feds?

sangfroid826

I refer you to Grrg's excellent comment earlier:

"OBVIOUSLY the two of them need to be forced to be co-mayors. And live in the same apartment. And have wacky misadventures together!"

This next turn of events sweetens the plot. Robert Guillaume & Rene Auberjonois have already laid down a winning template for this kind of thing. Lets greenlight this puppy!

manys

Blah blah blah, this is a 110% Karl Rove technique for disenfranchising selected voters, milking a close race as "questionable." Look for the questions/recounts primarily where Osby won close precincts. Step 3: Profit!!