Dead city treasurer wins re-election in Oceanside

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (AP) - Voters in Oceanside have re-elected a dead man to office.

Official figures Wednesday show that City Treasurer Gary Ernst was re-elected Tuesday even though he died of natural causes in September.

Ernst beat challenger Nadine Scott by a margin of about 53 percent to 47 percent.

There wasn’t time to remove his name from the ballot after he died from complications of diabetes on Sept. 23.

Since he can’t take office, though, the City Council can declare the seat vacant and decide to appoint someone to fill out the term or call a special election. A decision could be taken next month.