Riverside county judge Mac Fisher today ordered the Riverside Registrar of Voters to count 12,500 mail ballots which were picked up a day after the June 8th primary election.

Judge Fisher ruled the mix-up between the Postal Service
and the Registrar should not bar those voters from being heard. (Hat tip to reporter Duane Gang of the Press-Enterprise who filed a story from the court room).

SD Rostra estimates roughly 450 of those 12,500 ballots will be from registered Democrats choosing between Juan Vargas and Mary Salas in the slice of Senate District 40 which over-laps Riverside.

Salas won the “early” absentees in Riverside, while the late mail ballots and provisionals trended to Vargas. Overall, Salas now leads in Riverside 3924 to 3819 (that includes mail and precinct poll votes).

Vargas enters this “overtime” period with a 12-vote lead in the overall 3-county district….24,139 to 24,127.

Stay tuned to SD Rostra for further updates.