Menifee election update: Estrada leads Mayoral race by 290

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Ricky Estrada extended his lead over Lesa Sobek in the Menifee Mayoral race to 290 votes, according to Friday’s update of the election results.

In the last three days of counting “cured” votes – those where discrepancies on voter signatures were corrected – Estrada has received 712 votes to Sobek’s 328. The latest election update shows that 10,900 vote-by-mail ballots and 9,000 Conditional Voter Registration (CVR) ballots remain to be counted throughout the County.

In the race for school bond Measure R, “yes” votes continues to lead with 56.15 percent of the votes.

The remaining vote-by-mail ballots still need to be cured, said Elizabeth Florer of the County Registrar of Voters Office. In order to cure these ballots, the Registrar mailed notices to all those voters, asking them to reply with corrected information. Voters cannot change their vote, only correct registration information.

The number of vote-by-mail ballots has reduced only slightly in recent days because relatively few corrected ballots have been returned, Florer said. Voters have until Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. to return corrected ballots, but they are urged to return them as soon as possible. Florer also confirmed that campaign rules allow for candidates to request a list of ballots needing to be cured, and that the candidates are allowed to call or visit those voters and urge them to return corrected ballots.

The faster reduction in outstanding ballots is coming from the CVR ballots. These are voters who registered to vote the same day they cast their ballot.

“Eligible citizens who need to register or re-register to vote within 14 days of an election can complete this process to register and vote at their county elections office, polling place, or vote center. Their ballots will be processed and counted once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process,” states the California Secretary of State’s website.

According to Florer, the Registrar’s Office has received those verifications from the state and is in the process of verifying and counting those votes on a daily basis. 

The Registrar has until Dec. 5 to certify the final election results – one day after the City Council meeting in which the change in council seats normally takes place. Anticipating that the final vote won't be known on Dec. 4, the city clerk has tentatively scheduled the following council meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 17, when the council changes would take place.

Here are the latest numbers:

Menifee mayor:
Ricky Estrada 22,046 votes (44.28%)
Lesa Sobek 21,756 votes (43.69%)
Dameon Greene 5,990 votes (12.03%)

Measure R - Bond Measure for Menifee Union School District
Yes 29,250 votes (56.15%)
No 22,838 votes (43.85%)