Proposition A falls just short of passage
The anti-gang measure was defeated by six-tenths of a percentage point, according to unofficial returns. Supporters hope late absentee and provisional ballots may change the outcome.
A ballot measure that would have raised $30 million a year for Los Angeles anti-gang programs fell just shy of the two-thirds vote needed to pass, according to unofficial returns tallied this morning.
Proposition A received 66.12% of the vote -- six-tenths of a percentage point short of victory. With such a tight margin, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn said she was still holding out hope that late absentee and provisional ballots would turn the tide.
"Mathematically, it may be impossible" for Proposition A to win, said Hahn, who sponsored the measure. "But I'm not ready to concede."
Proposition A, which would have charged property owners in Los Angeles a flat rate of $36 per year, was one of dozens of tax measures that saw a surge of support thanks to the high general election turnout across Los Angeles County.
County election officials do not yet know how many late absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted. Although the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk received more than 1 million requests for mail-in ballots, it only processed 377,205.
"The unknown are those voters that held on to their ballots and dropped it in the mail on Monday," said county elections spokeswoman Grace Chavez.
In 2006, the county received 696,283 requests for mail-in ballots and processed 531,383 of them, Chavez said. County election officials hope to have more information on the number of remaining countywide ballots this afternoon.
Zahniser is a Times staff writer.
david.zahniser@latimes.com
