Count verifies Palmer vote

Frontiersman

The numbers are a little different, but the results are the same following the city of Palmer's canvass board vote count Friday afternoon.

Incumbent Ken Erbey remains the top pick for voters in the four-way race for two open seats, with 29 percent of votes. Newcomer Richard Best stays second in the count with 24.9 percent.

Best narrowly edged out incumbent Larry Hill, running for re-election after his single term on the council. Hill lost his seat by a 15-vote margin, garnering 23.4 percent of the votes. In last place is Emil Fondahn, who was chosen by 19.3 percent of Palmer voters.

The canvass board, made up of Cheryl Ess, Elaine Shields, Cindy Medbery and Cindy Larson, counted the absentee, early, special needs and questioned votes carefully Friday at Palmer City Hall.

They took about two hours to verify that the ballots were cast by city residents, and about six were rejected for various reasons - some were cast by people who do not live in city limits, one voter didn't sign the ballot, and one mail-in voter didn't have the proper number of witnesses.

In the end, 110 new votes went through the state's Accu-vote machine, according to the final - but still unofficial - numbers.

The Palmer City Council is scheduled to certify the results during a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at city hall.

The council used to act as the canvass board, too, said Palmer City Clerk Janette Bower. That changed a few years ago, and each year, the canvass process gets more formal.

&#8220Which is good,” she said.

Contact Leila Kheiry at 352-2270 or at leila.kheiry@frontiersman.com