School Board Election: 12 Votes Separate Winners from Losers

The number 12: it's a carton of eggs, four field goals and a jury (sans alternates).

And with all 15 precincts reporting in the La Cañada Unified School District's governing board race, it's the number of votes that separate second-place finisher and incumbent Jeanne Broberg from challenger Andrew Blumenfeld. 

That number could change in either candidate's favor during the five days of updating election results when officials from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk count vote-by-mail and provisional ballots.

Vote-by-mail are self explanatory: folks mailed them in. Provisional mean that a person showed up to the wrong polling place and instead of being shooed away, filled out a provisional ballot, which was not counted Tuesday night.

And that happened a fair bit at .

Inspector Sue Barry said there was some confusion with boundaries. The lines shifted this election, she said, and people who live on Jarvis Avenue, for example, in the hills north of Foothill Boulevard usually vote at Station 19. But for this election they were relocated to Briggs Avenue, which is a couple of miles farther west.

"So we actually had a lot of people fill out provisional ballots here, rather than drive there and vote,'' she told Patch Tuesday.

It's unclear how many total ballots are still to count, said Eileen Shea, a spokeswoman for the registrar-recorder's office. But officials will make the first update Friday. Although the scheduled update time is 1 p.m., results won't be updated online until 5 p.m., she said.

The ballot counting process is open to the public. If you wish to observe the process, you may go to 12400 Imperial Highway, Norwalk, CA 90650. Counting will be on the 3rd floor, Room 3001. You must check in and will be issued an observer’s badge and guidelines.

Additional counting days will be Nov. 14, 16 and 18, all at 1 p.m. And the last day of election updates will be Nov. 21 at 10 a.m.

While Ellen Multari's lead of 243 votes may place her in the safe category, the 12 vote-difference between Broberg and Blumenfeld mean Blumenfeld is going to make sure every vote is counted, he posted on his Facebook page. 

Coming in last in Tuesday night's election was candidate Ernest Koeppen, who garenered 14.41 percent of the vote with 836 votes cast. 

To read all of election night's coverage, click here.