By Lookout Staff

May 25, 2010 --If you have not mailed in your ballot for Measure A, the school district funding measure, do not bother to do it now. It will not arrive at the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office in Norwalk in time, and therefore will not be counted.

Your remaining option is to drop it off at Santa Monica City Hall, which you can do on Tuesday until 8 p.m. You can also deliver your ballot to the Malibu Library or Fire Station 99 in Malibu.

Ballot counting will begin in Norwalk at 8 p.m. Only ballots with signatures that have been verified will be counted that night. Those that still need signature verification because they were turned in too late will be counted two days later.

County officials have until June 4 to finish the process, although a County Registar spokesperson told The Lookout News last month it is doubtful it would take that long.

Measure A calls for a $198-per-parcel tax that would generate an estimated $5.7 million per year for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, which due to reduced State funding says it must cut $8.9 million from its budget for next fiscal year. These budget cuts include teacher layoffs and class size increases.

Look for results coverage beginning Wednesday morning on this web site.