Anderson wins … again

MAT-SU -- The recount is over and, although the results are not yet final, the totals indicate Mat-Su Borough Mayor Tim Anderson will keep his seat for another three years after all.

Thirty-three voting precincts -- every precinct in the Mat-Su Borough -- was subjected to a hand count after mayoral challenger Charlie Fannon requested a recount Oct. 20. and filed the requisite $100 per precinct, or $3,300. Anderson's unofficial vote total is 5,377, and Fannon's is 5,372.

Five or six votes were changed through the hand count -- the official report was not yet available for a precise count of the changed votes. Nevertheless, it was far fewer than the one-vote-per precinct Fannon, in his letter requesting the recount, said he expected.

Fannon did not return a message left at his office in relation to this story.

Borough Clerk Sandra Dillon said she was pleased that the Accu-Vote machines had performed as well as they had.

"It's great," Dillon said. "I'm just very pleased with the process."

The few votes that were changed, she said, were attributed to human variation. Some voters, Dillon explained, apparently rested the marking pen in one of the ovals while determining who to cast a vote for. The pen released a small circle of ink where it rested, partially filling in the oval. But then the voter marked another choice in the race, filling in the oval entirely with the pen. When such ballots were put through the Accu-Vote machine, Dillon said, it read the smaller ink spot as a double vote. Ballots with double votes, Dillon said, are ejected by the machine, so the voter can choose to cast another ballot. If, when asked by an election official, the voter doesn't want to cast another ballot, the official hits an override button that allows the ballot to be accepted, although the vote in that particular race remains uncounted.

Dillon said after she and an election official reviewed the votes in question, it was clear who the voter intended to cast a ballot for, and the votes were counted accordingly.

Anderson said he was relieved that the recount was over, but the nearly 20-day process of determining the results has robbed much of the excitement.

"I think I was probably much more excited after the vote counts with the absentees were released," Anderson said. "I never doubted the recount. I've been around those Accu-Vote machines for many elections."

Dillon said this may not be the end of the election, however. The election can be contested before the assembly, she said. A contest requires specific reasons for taking action -- that instances of malconduct, fraud or corruption have taken place, for example. Dillon said she didn't know of any instances that would qualify for an election contest.

"Frankly, this has come out so well," Dillon said, "not that anyone can't challenge. We'll have to wait till Monday night to see."

A challenge must be launched Monday, she said, prior to or at the election certification scheduled for 6 p.m.