Harvey County canvasses Nov. 4 municipal and school election results, certifies outcomes

The Harvey County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 12 canvassed and certified the Nov. 4 municipal and school election results after election staff added 62 provisional ballots to the unofficial totals.

Clerk Rick Pifo told the commission the county had 22,964 registered voters and 5,258 ballots cast, a turnout of 22.9 percent. Pifo said the provisional ballots fell into several categories: 30 in-county moves, six name-change cases, two signature-deficiency challenges, one technical-error case caused by an online registration routed to another county, two wrong-polling-place cases and 23 mailed-advance-but-not-returned ballots. After board votes on each grouping, Pifo said 62 provisional ballots were counted and incorporated into the results.

Pifo described two programming and instruction issues that were identified and remedied: an incorrect "vote-for" number on some Hesston ballots that was reprogrammed and addressed with replacement-ballot instructions to advance voters, and an instruction issue in Burton where poll workers advised voters to mark three candidates when the ballot initially read "vote for two." Pifo said those Burton ballots were ultimately counted and the voting devices read them correctly when retabulated.

He also reported that a random audit of two contested local races — the Hesston mayor race and a USD 369 board race — included hand counting by a four-member board and matched the election-night results.

Commissioners approved motions, by voice vote, to count the various provisional groupings consistent with statutory guidance and the clerk's recommendations. After verification of the updated totals, the board voted to certify the election results "as presented." Pifo said certificates of election and oaths would be sent to successful candidates and that newly elected officials generally take office in January 2026, with some municipalities (including Newton) organizing earlier under local ordinance.

Board members asked clerks about chain-of-custody practices for drop boxes, and Pifo described existing logs and retrieval practices; one commissioner asked staff to strengthen the two-person retrieval practice at some sites in the future. Commissioners expressed thanks to the election staff and poll workers for their work.

The board took no other action related to the canvass beyond the certifications and routine follow-up, and Pifo said all updated results would be posted to the county results site.