Returns delayed; Mueller ousted
Staff writers
The only thing running fast while ballots were counted after Tuesday’s election was a deer running across the courthouse lawn.
It took until 1:45 a.m. for Marion County to tally all the ballots. It was among the last six counties in the state to finish counting.
By midnight, five hours after the polls had closed, only three of eight poll sites had been counted. County Clerk Ashley Herpich said it would take at least another hour. It ended up taking nearly two.
Herpich said the county had “a big turnout” of 67% of registered voters and that the last presidential election, in 2020 had kept counters at the courthouse “very late.”
When final, unofficial returns were posted, Republican Mike Beneke ousted unaffiliated incumbent David Mueller in commissioner District 2 by a margin of 610 to 500.
In District 3, Republican Clarke Dirks outpolled Democrat Randy Eitzen 716 to 166, but totals for write-in incumbent Randy Dallke were not available.
Another race that won’t be decided until write-in votes are canvassed is for county attorney. Two candidates, Republican Michelle Brown and Libertarian David Graham, ran as write-ins here but were on the ballot in Morris County, where Brown won decisively, 2,040 to 444, in results released around 8:30 p.m.
Morris County Magistrate Laura Viar, who also serves in Marion County, retained her seat with 1,533 votes yes and 957 votes no.
In Marion County, former President Donald Trump easily outdistanced Vice President Kamala Harris for president, 4,219 to 1,380, surpassing the 4,196 to 1,300 margin of victory for Congressional candidate Derek Schmidt.
The leading votegetter in all races was unopposed Treasurer Tina Groening with 5,029 votes. Sheriff Jeff Soyez had the lowest total for unopposed county officials, 4,830.
Large numbers of voters cast their ballots before Tuesday but not without concerns.
Tampa resident Kim Frantz told the Record that a man standing behind her on courthouse steps during early voting Monday was able to see who the couple voted for.
“He would also have been able to see the voting by people who were already seated and were voting when we entered,” Frantz said. “I don’t believe this was deliberate, but it was disconcerting considering voting is supposed to be private.”
Frantz also said that instead of dropping her paper ballot into a box, she was told to hand it to a staff member, who then fed it into a computer scanner. The staff member could have easily been able to see her ballot, she said.
“Considering this is the ‘hub’ of the county, privacy issues should have been addressed and in place years ago,” Frantz said.
Herpich defended the setup within the courthouse.
“With early voting being located at the courthouse, we have a unique challenge with additional, non-voter traffic, which can increase the number of people around the voting area,” Herpich said. “No one assisting with the election would have been standing on the stairs.”
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