A final tally of the votes in the Oakland mayor's race is expected today and it looks like winner will be Oakland Councilwoman Jean Quan.
Alameda County election officials released a new vote count late Friday that showed when ranked-choice voting was put in the counting mix, Quan took a lead over former state senator Don Perata. They said it was a lead that would be hard to reverse.
This is the first election with Oakland using the new ranked-choice voting that asked voters to make a first, second and third choice.
When you look at straight votes, Perata had a double digit lead over Quan, but he didn't have the required 50 percent needed to win, so election officials had to take in account voters' second and third choices.
Apparently, many people who initially chose a third candidate, Rebacca Kaplan, as their first choice had Quan as their second choice. Kaplan was eliminated because she didn't get enough votes, but election officials said when the second choice votes were distributed Quan received 75-percent of them and Perata received 25 percent.
A large number of ballots were hand delivered on Election Day (90,000) which led to marathon hours for Alameda election officials. They are working through the weekend, and were expected to announce a final tally sometime today.
When the new leader was announced late Friday, Quan and her supporters popped champagne in celebration of what many say is an insurmountable lead.
When the Perata camp got the news, they released the following:
It appears that there might be a reversal of fortune.
We're unclear about Alameda County’s processes and await a final and accurate count.
The mystery of Ranked Choice Voting continues.
That mystery may be solved with a surprise winner and new leader at the helm of the Bay Area's third largest city.
