Dell Rapids City Council officializes April 8 election results for Wards 2, 3 and 4

The Dell Rapids City Council met to officially canvass and certify the April 8 municipal election returns for Wards 2, 3 and 4 and signed abstracts making the unofficial returns official.

Claire Bartman, the city’s election official, described the canvass procedure before members opened precinct envelopes: “Each of you, are going to, for each ward or precinct, you're going to open the return from each precinct, determine if the returns are genuine. You're going to total them, essentially making sure that what the outcomes are, match within reason to the poll book.” The council compared vote totals to the poll books and then recorded results on the certification forms circulated during the meeting.

The council approved the results for each ward by motion and roll call. For Ward 2, Councilmember Barry moved to approve the ward’s returns for the two-year and three-year seats; Gary seconded the motion and members voted in favor. Councilmembers who announced “yes” during the roll call included Byrd, Meyer, Haack, Jones, Honsick, Cavigelli and Ron Sock; the motion carries. The record contains a note that Wendy, who worked at the Ward 2 polling place, abstained from the vote.

For Ward 3 the council followed the same procedure. Gary moved and Bob seconded a motion to approve Ward 3’s returns from Minnehaha County for the April 8 election; the motion passed on roll call. Members recorded “yes” votes from Burke, Meyer, Nelson, Haack, Hansack, Cavigelli and Rodsack; Jones recorded an abstention during that roll call. The meeting record also notes a prior statement that an individual (referred to as “Chuck” in the discussion) would need to abstain from the Ward 3 canvass.

The council then canvassed Ward 4. Chad moved to approve Ward 4’s returns; Gary seconded. The roll call recorded yes votes from Burke, Nelson, Haack, Jones, Hanslick, Cavigelli and Ron Sock and an abstention recorded for Meyer; the motion passed and the certification forms were circulated for signatures.

Council members and staff completed and signed the abstracts and certification forms after confirming that the poll book entries aligned with the ballot totals. During the canvass staff explained that variations between the poll book and vote totals can occur when voters mark ballots for some races but not others; the council noted that poll book addresses are verified through the state voter registration system.

After completing the canvass of the three wards, a motion to adjourn passed and the meeting ended with members saying “aye.”