Koretz claims victory

Former Assemblyman Paul Koretz claimed vicotory in his bid for the Los Angeles City Council late Tuesday over neighborhood council leader David Vahedi.
The Koretz campaign released a statement saying the latest update from the county Registrar's office giving him a 702 vote lead cannot be surpassed by Vahedi. There was some confusion over the number of votes left to be counted. Koretz estimated it at about 100 votes, while earlier projections had it at about 2,000
Vahedi has questioned another aspect of the election where some absentee ballots sent out failed to include the election. Koretz said it involved about 50 ballots and was corrected before election day on May 19.
"Although we have been told that there are still approximately 100 ballots left to count, we can now safely claim victory," the Koretz campaign said. "Once these ballots are counted, and the election is certified, we will update the website."
There was no immediate comment from the Vahedi campaign. The race was for the seat vacated by Councilman Jack Weiss, who ran for City Attorney.