Council seat determined by luck of the draw
SUNNYVALE >> The election's in the bag — literally — in the Bay Area as a second city councilmember won his contest in the kind of random draw that rarely happens at all, let alone twice in the same election season.
Nearly two months after Election Day, the last of the region's unresolved races reached a conclusion Jan. 3 when a Sunnyvale contest marked by a tie and two recounts was decided by a city clerk with two names in a blue tote bag. A couple of weeks earlier, in Richmond, another tied race also was decided by the luck of the draw.
“It's pretty rare in elections in general for there to be a tie,” City Clerk David Carnahan said. In Sunnyvale, “to my knowledge, this is the first time.”
In both cases, city charters determined the method required to resolve a tie. In Richmond, the charter says a winner must be chosen by lot.
In Sunnyvale, Murali Srinivasan won the District 3 seat after Carnahan shook the sack and gave Srinivasan and his opponent, Justin Wang, a chance to jostle the bag themselves before the clerk drew a single name. Wang had requested a second recount after the Registrar of Voters' initial counts showed Srinivasan winning by a single vote. The race ended in a 2,814-to-2,814 tie.
In Richmond, candidates Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda were vying to represent District 2 in a tight race that included a recount requested by Butt after Zepeda was chosen the winner in a similar draw — albeit a more festive one, with his name being pulled from a red gift bag ahead of the holiday season. A few weeks later, Zepeda again was declared the winner.
Srinivasan said he was relieved the process was finally over in Sunnyvale. The council seat had been stuck for weeks in limbo after three ballot counts failed to determine a winner.
“Today's draw was a good ending — not because I won but because the uncertainty has been resolved,” he said. “This kind of uncertainty should not be prolonged for more than what is required.”
For Wang and Srinivasan, the results were close from the outset. Srinivasan was determined to win the election by a single vote after the initial count and an automatic recount performed by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. But then, in early December, Wang requested a second recount, saying he wanted to ensure that every vote was counted accurately in an election that was so close. And the one-vote margin went to none.
Srinivasan, an engineer who's lived in Sunnyvale for over 25 years, campaigned on a history of community involvement and experience working in business and finance. During his campaign, he promised to help alleviate traffic congestion and climate change and said he wanted to improve public safety and boost quality of life. He also hoped to represent Sunnyvale's South Asian community on the City Council for the first time in recent history.
“Participating in the election is one aspect, but the true work starts next,” Srinivasan said. “I would like to see more and more people participating . . . more importantly, at the city government level, we need to make it easier for our residents to participate also.”
Wang, who was born and raised in Sunnyvale, has spent his career working in public policy, advocacy and sustainability. During
his campaign, he promised he would be a councilmember who can handle being “knee-deep in the technical stuff” while staying engaged with the community. He was previously vice-chair of Livable Sunnyvale, an advocacy organization that pushes for more affordable housing, environmentally-friendly transit options, and walkable, transit-friendly communities.
He said he was “bummed about the results” but readily accepted the outcome.
“This is the process that we have,” Wang said. “No hard feelings whatsoever — I'm really excited for the next four years, and I wish my opponent well. I'm sure he's going to be doing his best to serve Sunnyvale residents, and I think we're in good hands.”
Srinivasan said he wouldn't have asked for a recount himself and that he was wary of Wang's representation by several San Francisco-based attorneys in the recount. However, he praised the Santa Clara County's Registrar of Voters for conducting the procedure thoroughly and carefully.
Both races demonstrated the power of a single vote, Evelyn Mendez, a spokeswoman for the registrar's office, noted in December.
“One vote made a difference,” Mendez said. “It was tied and then went back to one person winning, and then went back to a tie. So if people don't think their vote doesn't count, this is proof that they need to vote.”