John Arntz

Elections Department Publicizes Wrong Election Date

If the city intended to give Jon Golinger a heart attack, it came ever so close. The up-and-coming city political kvetch has been running a full-court press for the coming ballot initiative targeting the 8 Washington development. He's been telling everyone -- really, everyone -- to he ... More >>

District 7: There Will Be No Recount

Earlier today, we reported on the detailed costs of a potential recount in District 7, where Norman Yee edged F.X. Crowley by 132 votes. Department of Elections head John Arntz now says he received a call earlier today from the attorney representing Crowley's backers. And, in the words of the Gershw ... More >>

District 7: Recount Effort Moving Forward; Cost Estimate Could Be Generated Today

The process of initiating a recount in the wafer-thin District 7 supervisoral contest is moving forward, as election lawyer Jim Sutton has sent the city a letter listing the things he'd like counted, how he'd like them counted, and requesting the city count up how much this is all going to cost. Sut ... More >>

District 7: Cost Unclear on Recount

A consortium of labor groups this week moved to ask for -- and fund -- a recount in the razor-thin loss of labor leader F.X. Crowley in the District 7 race. This move was not unanticipated. But its cost remains uncertain. The San Francisco Labor Council was quoted as estimating a price tag exceeding ... More >>

District 7: Only 97 Votes Separate F.X. Crowley and Norman Yee

As the Department of Elections churns through the uncounted ballots, the race in District 7 has been transformed from ridiculously tight to preposterously tight. As of 11 p.m. on Election Day -- following the reversal of a "formatting error" -- only 338 votes separated leader F.X. Crowley from Norma ... More >>

District 7: "Formatting Error" Put Norman Yee in the Lead, Now F.X. Crowley Is Ahead (UPDATED).

See update below -- Department of Elections error caught by Crowley campaignFor candidates F.X. Crowley and Norman Yee, it was the best of times and the worst of times. Late last night, after all of the Department of Elections' official Ranked-Choice Voting tabulations were ostensibly over, the Dist ... More >>

District 7: Updated Numbers Shave Seven Votes -- Seven! -- Off F.X. Crowley's Lead

Last night, District 7 Supervisorial candidate F.X. Crowley's camp noticed something off with the late-breaking results reported by the Department of Elections. Sure enough, the city had been putting Crowley's vote totals alongside Norman Yee's name and vice-versa. When that mistake was straightened ... More >>

Ed Lee Supporters' Latest Scandal Too Late For 50,000 Absentee Voters

FreeFoto.comRight now, the mailbox is Ed Lee's strong ally​It's never good when a campaign facing money-laundering charges has to stop and ask "which one?" Today's front-page Chronicle story -- slipping quickly off the SFGate page in favor of flash mobs, men who ride turtles, and web-only real est ... More >>

Mayoral Candidates Demand Investigation of Ed Lee Supporters Accused of Fraud

They probably would have voted for Ed Lee anyway ... ​Mayor Ed Lee's campaign has been linked to yet another alleged election scandal. Over the weekend, seven mayoral candidates asked the state and federal government to investigate whether Lee supporters were illegally marking ballots for Cantones ... More >>

San Franscisco Voting: All Leaders Expand Margins

​Earlier today, city election chief John Arntz told us that today's most recent round of ranked-choice voting tabulations determine "nothing." Fair enough. But it's better to win than to lose, and it's better to be ahead than behind. You can bet that all the politicos involved and their supporters ... More >>

Karl Bradfield Nicholas, Allegedly Thieving Poll Worker, Baffles Colleagues

Return that ballot, man!​Staff at the city's Department of Elections are still mystified as to why poll worker Karl Bradfield Nicholas would allegedly run off with 75 ballots and some otherwise useless electronic election material. Nicholas, who was arrested at his Ingleside home early Wednesday m ... More >>

Poll Worker Who Allegedly Stole Ballots in Custody

Stop, ballot thief! ​Police told SF Weekly that a poll worker accused of running off with election materials yesterday is in custody. The items he is accused of stealing may not have been returned, however. In a bizarre instance city election director John Arntz told media he believes has never be ... More >>

Tens of Thousands of Uncounted Ballots in San Francisco

Count 'em all...​Earlier today, we noted that only several hundred votes separated the thrill of victory from the agony of defeat in all four contested supervisorial races. It requires an astoundingly small number of votes to become a supervisor in this city. But you can count on it requiring quit ... More >>

World Series: Are San Franciscans Too Drunk to Vote?

Now recite the alphabet backwards, and ... GO GIANTS! ​I'll admit it: Attendance in our office is pretty light. Things got a bit hot 'n' heavy last night. City economist Ted Egan may later be forced to calculate the cost to our fair city when workers opt to celebrate World Series wins by drinking ... More >>

Could San Francisco Have Two Mayoral Elections in 2011?

Are two elections really better than one? ​With political junkies gearing up for next year's mayoral election, city movers and shakers have been talking about a scenario that'd give the aforementioned fiends an overdose. Imagine if you will, that Gavin Newsom wins the Lieutenant Governor's seat. T ... More >>

Unions Sue Jeff Adachi, City to Keep Pension Reform Off Ballot

The union-led brawl over pension reform has, inevitably, found its way to a courtroom​Members of five city unions took the next step in labor's all-out battle against Public Defender Jeff Adachi's pension reform measure, suing Adachi and the city's election director in an effort to keep Propositio ... More >>

Michela Alioto-Pier Will Take City to Court, if Necessary, to Run for Supe Again

Michela Alioto-Pier is running until the judge says she can't​Yesterday, we reported on how Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier took out papers with the Department of Elections to run again, even though a 2008 opinion from City Attorney Dennis Herrera claimed she was ineligible to do so. John Arntz, th ... More >>

Michela Alioto-Pier Files to Run for Supe Again. Will Suit Against City Be Next?

Are Michela Alioto-Pier and the city on a collision course?​City's Department of Elections does not consider District 2 Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier eligible to defend her seatTwo years after City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed an opinion stating Michela Alioto-Pier was ineligible to run for re-e ... More >>

Oh Yes, There's an Election Today. A Guide For the Last-Minute Voter.

Hey, lazy! It ain't too late to turn in that absentee ballot! ​Here at SF Weekly, we make a point of not telling you how to vote. Well, I'm going to break that taboo today. But not really. I'm not telling you who or what to vote for. I'm going to, literally, tell you how to vote. When we spoke wit ... More >>

Where Does S.F. Department of Elections Get Those Wonderful Pictures For Voter Pamphlets? Would You Believe -- Flickr?

​Thousands upon thousands of San Franciscans were greeted by Voter Information Pamphlets in their mail boxes this week. And yet -- as always -- the dread of a pending election featuring confusing ballot measures, the oft-bizarre arguments expended for and against them, and a handful of unopposed c ... More >>

Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier says she's not termed out

Terms of Endearment: Alioto-Pier Says She May File Suit if City Doesn't Reverse Stance That She's Termed Out in 2010

Is that Alioto-Pier's 'happy' smile or her 'I'm gonna sue you' smile?Earlier this month, Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier sat down for a cup of coffee with City Attorney Dennis Herrera. She was hoping to get him to reconsider a ruling from his office stating Alioto-Pier will be termed out of office ne ... More >>

Bring Out Your Dead: S.F.’s Swelled Voter Rolls Were Possibly Stuffed With Stiffs

Recount Needed

Is a city bureaucrat putting our next vote count at risk by insisting S.F. hurry and spend up to $15 million on new equipment?

Plugged

An elections commissioner's on the hot seat after his name appears on a DA's endorsement list

Making Nice

City and state elections officials finally strike a harmonious note in their erratic efforts to roll out IRV

Blowing It

How San Francisco elections officials dropped the ball on instant runoff voting