RECOUNT room at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana.

The recount of the April 7 Westminster City Council recall election is likely to continue well into next week.

According to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, if the process is limited to physically counting the ballots, it will take “approximately five to seven business days.”

The beginning of hand counting was delayed by requests by Camilla Overbeek – who originated the recount – to review:

• All military/overseas ballot envelopes and related documents.
• A computer disc containing all available information on who was registered to vote in Orange County but not in Westminster as of July 1, 2019 and those registered to vote in Westminster between July 1, 2019 and April 7, 2020.
• A computer disc containing information about all voters who registered to vote in Westminster between July 1, 2019 and April 7, 2020 whose vote-by-mail envelopes were returned to the registrar’s office unopened and unvoted.
• A computer disc with information about all voters whose signatures were initially determined to not match their signatures on their voter registration documents.
• All documents regarding the decision to close in-person voting locations.
• Unopened and opened vote-by-mail envelopes.

So far, nine precincts in Westminster have been recounted by hand tally, and the original count and the recount are complete matches.

The recall election was an unsuccessful attempt to remove from office Westminster Mayor Tri Ta and councilmembers Kimberly Ho and Chi Charlie Nguyen.