The recount in the Greene County treasurer’s election is finished. After a committee of three touched 4,133 ballots six times each, Katlynn Gannon/Mechaelsen was the winner, as she was before the recount.
However, she didn’t beat 32-year incumbent Donna Lawson by two votes – she won by only one vote.
The final tally was 2,028 votes for Mechaelsen and 2,027 votes for Lawson.
The count changed by five votes. The first canvass showed Mechaelsen with 2,208 votes and Lawson with 2,204. Upon recount, Lawson had the three votes she needed to retain her job, but Mechaelsen picked up two more votes, too.
The recount board – Chris Henning, Sean Sebourn and Tom Yepsen – determined that five ballots were counted by the machine differently than the voter intended. In making the determination, they followed very specific rules set out by the Iowa Secretary of State.
The recount took three people 11 hours, for 33 volunteer hours. Additionally, either county auditor Jane Heun or deputy auditor for elections Billie Jo Hoskins sat in with the board to assure ballot security.
Lawson originally called for both a manual and a machine recount. She is foregoing the machine recount, according to Henning, who was Lawson’s appointment to the recount board.
The county supervisors will meet Wednesday at 9 am to serve as board of canvassers. The vote will become official at that time.
