After nearly six months of not having an official with voting powers to represent them on the Los Angeles City Council, it’s come down to this final day of voting for San Fernando Valley residents in District 6 to elect their next councilmember – or at least narrow the candidates down to two.
Vote centers will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for voters to cast their ballots — or drop them off — in a special election to fill the office vacated by ex-Councilmember Nury Martinez. The once-powerful president of the city council resigned in disgrace in October for her role in a leaked racist audio scandal.
There are seven candidates on the ballot, in this order: Isaac Kim, Imelda Padilla, Rose Grigoryan, Marisa Alcaraz, Antoinette Scully, Douglas Sierra and Marco Santana. They’re vying to represent residents in Arleta, Lake Balboa, North Hills, North Hollywood, Panorama City, Sun Valley and Van Nuys.
If a candidate captures more than 50% of the vote, they’ll be declared the winner. If not, the top two finishers will face off in a runoff election on June 27.
It’s unknown whether a clear victor or two top finishers will emerge tonight — or if voters must wait potentially days to learn the results while the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office tallies the ballots. Tentatively, the registrar’s office isn’t scheduled to certify the results until April 14.
Council District 6 has 118,455 registered voters, but special elections tend to have low voter turnouts. Last week, one political science professor at Loyola Marymount University predicted the turnout will hover between a modest 10% and 15%.
A defining issue in this race has been the issue of trust in local government.
In October, Martinez stepped down as City Council president, then two days later, resigned from the council altogether amid intense pressure from the public after a backdoor conversation she had in the fall of 2021 with two other councilmembers – one of whom is also no…
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