Kline still carries county after canvassing of ballots
The numbers changed, but Marion County election results remained the same Friday following the canvassing of ballots.
In the closely contested Kansas state attorney general's race between Republican Phill Kline and Democrat Chris Biggs, Kline remained the victor in Marion County receiving 2,505 votes to Biggs' 2,276 votes.
Statewide, the race was too close to call and final results were not expected to be known until late Tuesday after all counties had canvassed ballots.
The Marion County Board of Canvassers, comprised of the three county commissioners, met to review results and tally provisional ballots. The lengthy session began at 9 a.m. and ended around 1:20 p.m. Friday.
There were a total of 59 provisional ballots in Marion County — 51 of those were counted, eight were not, according to Mary Harrison with the county election office.
"Of the eight not counted, six (voters) were not registered in Marion County before the election and two did not vote in the correct ward," Harrison explained.
Kline received 52.39 percent of the county's vote compared to 47.61 percent for Biggs.
Also of interest to many locally, a write-in effort for Val DeFever for the 9th district position on the state board of education drew only a few additional votes after the provisionals were counted. Republican Iris Van Meter handily won the position.
The exact number of votes for the district 9 position had not been tallied before 5 p.m. Friday, and the courthouse was closed Monday for the Veterans' Day holiday.
During the canvassing, the board discovered a significant write-in effort for the 70th district state representative slot. The only individual on the ballot was Donald L. Dahl, a Republican from Hillsboro.
"There were about 60 write-ins for this position," Harrison said. No one name stood out above another and all were the names of area individuals.
In the only county race on the ballot, Bob Hein, Hillsboro, retained his district 1 county commission seat with a total of 1,505 votes after pulling in 20 more.
Also during the canvassing, the board chose not to count 22 challenged ballots.
"We let the canvassing board decide whether or not challenged ballots are counted," Harrison said.
Different from provisionals, challenged ballots are those cast by advanced voters who do not follow advanced voting regulations.
For instance, these are ballots which reach the election office after 7 p.m. Election Day, or are turned in at a poll rather than to the election office in the courthouse.
In other cases, a challenged ballot may have been sent to a constituent who is on a permanent advanced voting list (usually an individual who resides at a nursing home) who later decided he or she did not want to vote. In other cases, the individual may have moved, Harrison explained.
