The election recount in the race for Ojai mayor concluded Wednesday without any changes, reaffirming incumbent Mayor Betsy Stix as winner.
After Stix defeated challenger Anson Williams by 42 votes and results were certified on Dec. 8, a Williams supporter initiated the recount process a day later.
The recount results went unchanged from the certified results, according to a notice Wednesday from the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. The final total for Stix remained the same at 1,823 votes, or 50.58% of the votes. Williams had 1,781 votes, or 49.42%.
The recount process began Friday with the mayoral race, which was the only one challenged in the Nov. 8 election.
Simone Seydoux, a spokeswoman with the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, said the process wrapped up Wednesday around 1 p.m. At least 34 people were directly involved in the recount that included groups of four people and two supervisors overseeing the process, Seydoux said.
The ballot counting began at 10 a.m. Monday inside the Elections Division at the Ventura County Elections Center.
Williams, a director and producer known for his role as Warren “Potsie” Weber in the 1970s and ’80s television show “Happy Days,” became the frontrunner when the results were first released on Nov. 8.
As updates continued, Stix moved into the lead on Nov. 22. She maintained her position in later updates. Stix, who has served in the mayor’s role since 2020, took her oath on Dec. 13.
The estimated cost of the recount is $28,500. It included a deposit of $8,000 and a daily cost of $5,500, according to the county.
Ronald “Tony” Otto filed a recount request document Dec. 9 to the Ventura County Elections Division asking for a manual recount “on behalf of candidate Anson Williams.”
The recount was completed earlier than expected. Seydoux said it was not immediately clear if Otto would receive any money back.
She said the cost of a manual recount is higher because it requires hiring more people. Computer recounts are conducted on elections division ballot-counting machines.
Stix said in a statement she was grateful to Ventura County Election workers for their “meticulous job” in tabulating votes.
“Not one mistake. Bravo on another perfect count,” Stix said.
Requests for comment from Williams and Otto went unreturned by press time.
It has been a long time since anyone paid for a recount, said Mark Lunn, Ventura County’s clerk-recorder, in a statement.
“I am not personally familiar with a recount changing the results of any election, but we were happy to be able to show observers some of the procedures we perform throughout the election and all the checks and balances that are in place,” Lunn said.
