Paul Koretz may have declared victory to be the new councilman in Los Angeles' 5th District but the Los Angeles County Registrar's office says not so fast.
Koretz leads attorney David T. Vahedi 18,286-17,584, 50.98 percent to 49.02 percent, according to figures released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
But according to a Registrar official on Wednesday, the election will not be certified until June 15 at the latest.
Meaning, the West Hollywood councilman has jumped the gun.
On his website, Koretz says, "Although we have been told that there are still approximately 100 ballots left to count, we can now safely claim victory."
Well, yes and no.
There are about 100 damaged ballots left to be counted. Also -- and here's where Koretz's math gets a little fuzzy -- there are between 500 and 1,000 provisional or vote-by-mail ballots left to be counted.
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Even in Koretz's victory statement, it's apparent the former assemblyman knows better.
"Once these ballots are counted, and the election is certified, we will update the website," Koretz said in a statement on his website.
So, in Koretz's own words, nothing is really over until the election is certified.
Koretz was endorsed by 11 members of the Los Angeles City Council, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky -- who represented the 5th District from 1975 to 1994 -- United Firefighters Los Angeles and the California Nurses Association.
Koretz was a council member in West Hollywood from 1988 to 2000. He represented the area in the state Assembly from 2000 to 2006. The 5th District includes parts of the Westside San Fernando Valley.
