FRESNO (KMJ) — A candidate in the Fresno City Council District 3 race, who missed out on November’s runoff election by six votes, is now calling for changes to be made to Fresno County’s electoral system.
Darren Miller achieved 762 votes on June 5th, with Tate Hill receiving 768 votes, and Miguel Arias netting 1478 votes.
Miller requested a recount, which was completed on Monday.
“The result is that the outcome of the race did not change, and the law states that after a recount if the outcome does not change the original results stand,” explained Fresno County Registrar of Voters Brandi Orth.
“So that was the determination at the end of the day and that is what was announced.”
The recount saw the numbers altered slightly from the original figures in June, and that difference is what Darren Miller said highlights an issue with the system.
“In this case there was a 0.17 difference between Mr. Hill who was second and me third, but I had to wind up paying $8,000 to be able to get accurate numbers – which we’re not even sure are accurate now.
“There needs to be some safeguards in there that we who are voting our votes are actually being counted, contabulate it, and the numbers that we’re actually getting out of that office are accurate.”
But Miller stopped short of saying that he is making reform of the election system his own focus.
“We have an issue with our election system. We need to take a look at the way we’re providing that service.”
In a statement, Fresno County Registrar of Voters Brandi Orth said “the recount process is a controlled and transparent process. All candidates were allowed to observe.”
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
