Recount doesn't change results

BERRYVILLE -- A "re-run" of election day paper ballots that was conducted last week didn't affect the outcome of Preferential Primary races held May 18, but it did change the numbers.

That was the report from Election Coordinator Bethe Henley, who said she requested the "re-run" after discovering a discrepancy.

Henley said when she was scanning voter signatures she discovered there were more signatures than there were votes, leading her to believe there was a glitch, in this case a power surge during the paper count process on election eve.

Affected was the paper ballot count from the entire Northwest Southwest Prairie Township precinct and from part of the Holiday Island precinct.

Henley said she narrowed her search to election day paper ballots after eliminating other possibilities.

The paper tapes from the electronic voting machines were "dead on," she said, with the number of voter signatures associated with the machines.

She said the same held true for early voting and absentee voting, leading her to suspect it was the paper ballots from election day voting that fell short.

"That's why we have these checks and balances," she explained.

Early voting for the June 8 primary run-off is under way at both county courthouses during regular business hours, Henley added.

All 15 polling sites will be open next Tuesday, election day, from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Tabulation of results will take place at the Berryville courthouse that evening.

Next up, Henley said, will be the special Green Forest School Election, just two weeks away, set for June 22.

That's when school district patrons will be asked to approve the restructuring of existing debt to finance improvements.