Politics & Government
Voting Machine Mistake: Some St. Louis County Votes Weren't Counted
A total of 595 votes in four locations weren't counted in last night's election. However, election officials say the incident didn't affect the outcome of any races.
The failure of election workers to properly download tallies from five touch-screen voting machines at four polling places Tuesday caused 595 votes not to be counted.
However, St. Louis County Election Board officials told KSDK-TV that the incident did not impact any of the races. The station said the polling places that were affected include: Glendale Lutheran Church, Clayton Community Center, Ritenour Middle School and McKnight Church of Christ.
The news sparked interest from those involved with some of the closer races in St. Louis County, including the Kirkwood, Rockwood and Lindbergh school boards and the race for the Subdistrict 3 seat on the St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees.
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Unofficial results were updated this afternoon, but it is unclear whether all of the impacted votes have been accounted for.
The following are the latest results from select races in which candidates have less than a 1-percent margin of victory.
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Kirkwood School Board
- Andy Stewart, 3,401.
- Scott Anderson, 3,414.
- Sara King, 3,405.
Lindbergh School Board
- Kate Holloway, 2,460.
- George Rezabek, 2,445.
Rockwood School Board
- Sherri Rogers, 5,908.
- Jennifer Kelly, 5,796.
St. Louis Community College Board, Subdistrict Three
- Joan McGivney, 6,233.
- Bob Burns, 6,209.
If the races remain within a 1-percent margin of victory, votes will be automatically recounted after the election is certified which will likely occur April 11 or 12, St. Louis County Election Director Rita Heard Days told Patch Wednesday.
According to state law, however, a candidate must file a petition in order for the recount process to begin. A recount is authorized when there is a less than a 1-percent difference in vote. Election authorities do not automatically take action, according to Missouri Revised Statutes.
The junior college unofficial results listed above only reflect those in St. Louis County. Patch could not verify St. Louis City election results. We have a call into the city's election board for the numbers and will provide an update as soon as we receive one.
Webster Groves Patch Editor Sheri Gassaway contributed information to this article.
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