Belton council certifies May 3 election returns; charter amendment on municipal court approved by voters

The Belton City Council on May 13 voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance canvassing the May 3, 2025 special and general election returns, certifying the results for multiple council seats and a charter amendment.

City Clerk Amy Casey presented the returns: "For council member place 5, it was Ty Taggart with 388 votes and Daniel Bucher with 447 votes. For council member place 6, Luke Veil Potts received 543 votes. Clinton Bailey received 320. Stephanie O'Banion is in council member place 7; she received 688 votes." Casey also reported the charter amendment to make the municipal court a court of record passed with 700 votes in favor and 30 against.

Casey provided turnout and provisional-ballot details: in-person early voting accounted for 603 votes, 10 by mail, 267 on election day and five provisional ballots. Three provisional ballots were rejected after county review: two nonresidents and one voter who had changed address less than 30 days before the election. The total number of counted voters was 885, from a registered voter pool the clerk said was "well over 12,000." The clerk characterized turnout as "better than we've had in some years past, it's still pretty poor."

A council member moved to approve the canvass ordinance; the motion carried 6-0. The certification completed the formal steps allowing the city to implement the charter amendment and move to the related ordinance and contract steps the council took later that evening.

The canvass closes the city’s official election process for these races and the municipal-court charter amendment; the council’s ordinance makes the results official for city records.