By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Not all the votes have been counted in that extremely close race for Buchanan County Western District Commissioner.
“This is the closest race that I’ve ever seen in the 24 years I’ve been in this office,” Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
The unofficial vote total released by Baack-Garvey’s office late Tuesday night had incumbent Democrat Ron Hook up by only 20 votes over Republican challenger Everett Goddard, Jr. Hook garnered 7,851 votes to Goddard’s 7,831 votes; a split of 49.96% to 49.83%.
That margin falls well within the requirements for an automatic recount.
But not all the votes have been counted.
“There is a possibility of a recount,” Baack-Garvey says. “We still have provisional ballots to process from yesterday (Tuesday) and we are also waiting on military ballots to come in and those are allowed to arrive by noon on Friday.”
Those will need to be added and the outcome could change. The margin likely will not.
“If it’s less than one percent, it’s an automatic recount,” Baack-Garvey says. “If it’s not, then yes, the opponent would have to pay for the cost of having the recount done.”
If the margin widens to more than 1%, the trailing candidate would have to request a recount and finance it.
If there is a recount, a formal process will be followed.
“Well, we would have to get a few groups of bipartisan teams,” according to Baack-Garvey. “We would have to get the machines out and those teams would have to run every ballot that was voted in the Western District through the machines again.”
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