Officials open District 3 recount in Lowell City; ballots counted into packs of 50, protests allowed

An Unidentified Election Official, an election official, opened the District 3 recount in Lowell City, saying officials "have opened the crates of sealed ballots" and "counted them into packs of 50." The official said agents representing candidates and parties may protest individual ballots during the count by filling out protest slips and accompanying the contested ballots to commissioners.

The official described the protest process in detail, saying that if there is "further protest, the ballot will be returned to the commissioner's table and sealed to possibly be adjudicated later in a court of law." That sealed handling, the official said, preserves contested ballots for potential legal review while the recount continues.

Officials also said the commission will review rejected early and absentee ballots at the end of the recount to determine whether any should be removed from their envelopes and added to the tally. "At the end, we will be reviewing rejected early, and absentee ballots, and the commission will be determining whether or not they should be removed from the envelopes and added into the count," the official said.

The official added that poll workers "have been instructed and trained to be looking for the intent of the voter," indicating the standard staff will apply when examining markings or other irregularities on ballots. No formal vote or final adjudication was announced during these opening remarks; officials described the procedures that will guide the recount and any subsequent challenges.

The recount procedure, the official said, allows agent protests at the table and reserves decisions about disputed ballots for the commissioners and, if necessary, a court of law. The commission's review of rejected early and absentee ballots will determine whether those ballots are added to the final count.