For the first time in nearly a decade, the same Lathrop City Council that was seated before a general election could be seated after the election is certified.

Whether that will come to fruition will become clearer after the San Joaquin Registrar of Voters releases the next batch of ballots that have been counted since the last ballot drop the day after the election.

Perhaps coinciding with a relatively quiet campaign season in Lathrop – only one challenger emerged for two council seats, and only one for mayor – the incumbents seeking reelection are poised to secure additional terms and for the first time in many years not welcome any new faces onto the council following a general election.

Currently five-time incumbent mayor Sonny Dhaliwal holds a commanding lead over his challenger, John Thanh Do, while incumbent councilmembers Paul Akinjo and Diane Lazard hold a comfortable lead over challenger Christina Campoy-Laughlin.

Councilwoman Minnie Diallo was elected for the first time in 2020 while councilwoman Diane Lazard was elected in 2018. In 2016 it was Ruben Sandoval that was the new face on the council – a candidate that unfortunately passed away shortly after being sworn in – and in the previous two elections it was council-appointees that were subsequently elected for the seats they were serving in.

According to the most recent numbers published by the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Office, 20.5 percent of the registered voters in the county cast their ballots in 2022 – with 79,242 ballots cast out of the 385,679 registered voters in the county.

With California transitioning to an all-mail election during the pandemic and many residents recognizing the convenience of voting by mail, the process of counting the ballots for each election has become labor-intensive. Because each mail ballot needs to be checked manually – the signature on the envelope has to match the signature on file from registration – it can take up to a week or even longer to formally count all of the ballots that are received within the legal window.

In an effort to keep voters apprised of the counting process without impeding it, the registrar’s office will be releasing vote results every Tuesday by 7 p.m. until the election is certified – a process that must be completed by Dec. 8. Results can be found by visiting the registrar’s website at www.sjrov.gov or the California Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.ca.gov.

 To contact Bulletin reporter contact Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.