Counting error in Teton County elections leads to changes in results

EastIdahoNews.com file photo
DRIGGS — After a counting error, multiple races in Teton County are seeing different results.
Teton County Clerk Kim Keeley told EastIdahoNews.com due to some miscommunication between staff with a new election system, results initially shared Tuesday only included day-of votes.
Tuesday night’s numbers did not include absentee ballots, although they were updated with them Wednesday morning.
The biggest change came in the Driggs city council race, which initially reported victories to Scott Stuntz and Erika Earles. While Stuntz remains the victor with 234 votes, Miles Knowles is still in the running after receiving 222 votes, the same number as Earles. The miscalculation initially did not include 237 votes.
Provided the numbers are not subject to a recount, which has a separate outcome, a runoff election would need to take place in November as there are only two available seats.
Jake Kunz was initially listed as the winner in the Teton School District 401 Zone 4, however, after adding the absentee ballots, Kathleen Haar is listed as the victor with 54% of the 640 votes. In total 238 votes were not included in the initial calculations.
In Teton School District 401 Zone 3, the winner stayed the same with Ray Hinchcliff defeating Jeannette Boner by just four votes. Based on the differences between totals, 134 votes were miscalculated.
In what was among the biggest upsets of the night, city councilwoman August Christensen still won the Driggs mayoral race against Hyrum Johnson. Christensen got 60% of 452 votes. In total 151 votes were not included in the original numbers.
The Victor city council winners remain the same, with voters choosing Stacy Hulsing and Sue Muncaster. The updated numbers now include 124 additional votes.
Corrected election numbers have been posted on EastIdahoNews.com as well as the Idaho Secretary of State website.
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Source: eastidahonews.com