Two Rochester City Council Races Eligible for Public Funded Recounts
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - City election officials are preparing to hold a recount of the votes cast in Tuesday’s primary election to verify the results of at least one of the races for positions on the Rochester City Council. Those results were officially canvassed Friday afternoon, which opened a five day period during which recounts can be requested by the candidates involved in the election. The deadline is 5 pm on Wednesday.
The results of the canvas show two of the City Council races are eligible for publicly funded recounts because of the very close margin between the votes cast for the second and third place finishers. Former City Councilmember Paul Myhrom has already requested a recount in the race to succeed First Ward Councilmember Ed Hruska. While Patrick Keane was the frontrunner with 36-percent of the vote, Myhrom’s vote total was only 5 fewer than the second-place finisher, Heather Holmes.
Byron Clark is also eligible to request a recount paid for by the city. The canvas shows his vote total was only 18 below the votes cast for Judy Hickey, who finished second to Shaun Palmer in the Fifth Ward primary election for the seat being vacated by Mark Hickey.
A timetable laid out by the City Clerk’s office indicates any requested recount will be scheduled during the week of August 27th, which would allow the City Council to officially certify the election results the following week. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, only 13 primary election contests in the entire state were close enough to be eligible for publicly funded recounts.