The bill is officially in, and the city of Sunnyvale says it will pay $794,978 for an August special election for voters to choose who got to serve a four-month term on city council.

On Aug. 16, the city held an election that saw then-planning commissioner Larry Klein win Seat 4 on the city council. The election between three candidates determined who would finish out Councilman David Whittum’s term, which was to expire in December. Whittum resigned suddenly in April.

Due to the awkward timing of Whittum’s resignation and the rules of the city charter, the city was forced to hold a special election rather than leave the seat vacant until the Nov. 8 election or have the matter voted on in conjunction with the June primary. The city charter states that vacancies must be declared within 30 days of a resignation, and a special municipal election must be called with 180 days of the declaration of vacancy.

Back in April, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters estimated a stand-alone special election would cost approximately $767,600, with each candidate statement running $2,337.

According to Jennifer Garnett, city communications officer, the city also paid approximately $5,000 to publish notices in newspapers announcing the election and the list of candidates.

Klein won the election with 60.24 percent of the vote. John Cordes and Stephen Williams garnered 31.67 and 8.09 percent, respectively. Voter turnout for the special election was 23.11 percent, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

After his victory Klein immediately returned to campaigning, as he is defending Seat 4 on Nov. 8. Challengers include Mike McCarthy and Cordes.