Votes Cast for Dead Sheriff OKd

SAN FRANCISCO — Votes cast for sheriff in San Mateo County, where the dead incumbent was one of two candidates on the June 3 ballot, will be counted, according to a ruling by a state appeals court, which said a law hastily passed by the Legislature to cancel the election was unconstitutional.

The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the law, intended to give other challengers time to get on the ballot, was “invalid special legislation.”

The only challenger to Sheriff Brendan Maguire, who died of a heart attack in April, was Jim White, a security officer at the U.S. Mint here. If Maguire won a majority, county supervisors would appoint an interim sheriff until a special election next March.