Update: Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller said he has talked with SPS Board candidate Landon McCarter, and McCarter has accepted the results, so there will be no recount.
Original story:
Several issues and races were decided in southwest Missouri in Tuesday’s April General Municipal Election. Voter turnout was 15.1%. That compares to last year’s April Election when 17.6% of registered voters cast ballots.
In Springfield, voters chose three people to serve on the SPS Board of Education. They are incumbents Maryam Mohammadkhani and Danielle Kincaid and newcomer Susan Provance. It was a close race between Mohammadkhani and the fourth place finisher Landon McCarter. He garnered 10,986 votes (15.14%) compared to Mohammadkhani's 11,306 ballots (15.58%). Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller said he's reached out to McCarter to ask if he would like a recount, but he hadn't heard back as of Wednesday afternoon.
View election results from Greene County here.
Schoeller said they had some normal Election Day challenges, but overall everything went well.
What happens now
Wednesday, April 3, all of the election equipment is being returned to the Greene County Elections Center. And on Thursday, April 4, Schoeller said, bipartisan teams will post-test it at 9 a.m. at the Greene County Elections Center, 1126 N. Boonville in Springfield, to make sure it was tabulated correctly. Before each election, according to the county clerk’s office, a public logic and accuracy test of the accessible voting equipment used to mark ballots and the digital scan voting equipment used to tabulate ballots is done by bipartisan teams. Then, before election results are certified, the same logic and accuracy test takes place. The tests are open to the public.
And Schoeller said there will be a hand count on Friday.
"We'll take no less than 5% of the precincts that voted yesterday at the polling locations," he said. "We will do a hand count of those with bipartisan teams. It will also include, for example, the race for mayor in Willard as well as a ward race that happened in Fair Grove as well."
In Fair Grove, Schoeller said, there had been ward changes, and there were "some challenges" with people being in the correct ward. He said they'll do a recount to ensure everything tabulated correctly.
Willard mayor candidates garner same number of votes
In Willard, the mayoral race between Samuel Snider and Troy Smith ended in a 349 to 349 tie. Schoeller said they’re waiting to see if any provisional ballots were cast Tuesday for Willard mayor, and there could be some military or overseas ballots come in on Friday that could effect that race’s outcome. The Missouri Code of State regulations, according to his office, calls for a manual recount whenever the percentage margin of difference is equal to or less than 1/2 of 1%.
The recount will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, April 5, at the Greene County Elections Center, and the public is invited to watch.
Ties are not uncommon, according to Schoeller, especially in April elections. There have been a few over the years. But, in terms of the number of votes cast, he said he believes this is the biggest tie since he was elected Greene County Clerk in 2014.
Every vote matters
Schoeller said races like the one for Willard mayor show that every vote really does matter.
"I know in terms of, you know, especially local elections, I think sometimes voters don't recognize just how big of an impact their one vote can make," he said, "because we've had ties. We've had one vote outcomes in the past, and so it's always important that people, if they have an opportunity during an election day, that they get out and let their voice be heard."
He said if there’s still a tie after the recount and after any provisional and overseas ballots are in, his office will certify the election results. After that, the two candidates can opt to flip a coin to decide who will serve in the role or either candidate may request a runoff election.
