The Dunklin County Clerk's Office has reported a change in the election results regarding the Southland C-9 Board of Education race from what was previously reported following the close of voting on Tuesday.
It was reported on Wednesday morning, based on a preliminary printout provided by the office late Tuesday evening that a mere two votes separated two candidates in the School Board race, Incumbent candidate Bethany Evans and challenger Jody Baugus. The initial report showed that Evans had skimmed by in the race, earning a total of 146 votes over Baugus' 144, however, the certified results showed different after press time.
According to the Dunklin County Clerk's Office, a total of 35 ballots had been kicked out by the system, which refused to accept them for undetermined or non-specified reasons. This left a predetermined panel of four election judges, two republicans and two democrats, to hand count those ballots, which ultimately resulted in a different total than what had first been reported. The third candidate in the race, and leader overall, incumbent Lonnie Gibson Jr., saw his votes increase from a previously reported total of 180 to a more accurate 193. Evans' votes came in accurately at 153, and Baugus ended up surpassing that with a certified total of 159 ballots cast in his favor, which made him the winner over Evans, unlike what had been first communicated.
The hand count also resulted in a change to the total number of ballots turned in for this election. It was first disclosed that a sum of 477 votes were cast by voters of this district, however, the number was accurately 505 in all reality.
County Clerk Carol Hinesly confirmed these final results as the certified election results pertaining to this race. She also explained that the "Secretary of State's office confirmed on Wednesday that the local county office handled the issue appropriately and that the certified results they established are the most accurate."
In laymen's terms, basically what happened here, is that a total of 35 ballots were not accepted by the machine, which kicked each one out as they were input. When this happens, Hinesly explained that the ballot is then presented to the election judge panel who supervise the election process.
"Nothing is done or changed by our office," she said. "When the machine stops, we instantly hand the ballot off to the panel who is ultimately responsible for hand counting the ballots, which is what happened in this case."
The reason the numbers reported by this publication were not in-line with that accurate total is because they were not included on the first release of total votes depicted through a spreadsheet provided by the office. What was shown in this report only include the precinct numbers and absentee votes, not the hand-counted ballots. The deadline for the official certified results, which included the hand-counted difference, fell after the publishing deadline and the newspaper did not receive the final, accurate results until late Wednesday afternoon, which was confirmed through the office again on Thursday morning.
Hinesly said that the issue does not indicate an error or problems with their machines, just those specific ballots. It could've been something as simple as an over-mark, or the way the paper was folded or damaged in the process of being turned in. She said that her office holds a great deal of confidence in the machines they use during the election process and that they have consistently operated in the manner in which they were designed to.
"There isn't anything better than our machines," she said. "It all runs smooth, when the machine runs smoothly, which is normally the case."