The votes were cast and counted almost three months ago. Winning candidates were sworn in and are now serving in office, but in Mineral County a nagging question has emerged. Were all the votes counted? If not, why? And, if a true count changes the outcome in a race, what next? At the moment there are no good answers, just plenty of troubling questions. Stewart Handte went to bed election night believing he’d just lost his job as Mineral County Sheriff, losing by just 75 votes. His opponent was duly certified by local election officials and now holds the office. But now the question he and others here are asking is: did he really lose? “I just want the truth,” he says. “Regardless if it changes the results the people need to have the complete facts.”
At the moment it appears more votes were cast than were counted. More than 14 hundred voters went to the Mineral County polls last fall. It turns out as many as 172 of those votes may not have been counted.
According to the Mineral County Independent News, which broke the story, sources say the votes on the electronic cartridge and paper record from one of the county’s machines used during early voting may not have been part of the election night count.
Full Article: Were All Of MIneral County’s Votes Counted?.