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McPherson County clerk reports provisional‑ballot totals; commissioners authorize opening provisional envelopes
Summary
County Clerk Holly Melroy told commissioners the office handled a heavy post‑election workload, reporting 472 provisional ballots (59 denied) and noting 1,027 ballots were mailed with 67 not returned; commissioners voted to open provisional ballots for review.
McPherson County Clerk Holly Melroy reported to the Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 12 that the county’s election office handled substantial post‑election work and a high number of in‑office voters, including dozens of provisional ballots.
Melroy told the board the office processed 472 provisional ballots after the election and that 59 of those provisional ballots had been denied. She said the office identified about 80 instances of voters who had not been registered locally and that those records will be updated for future elections.
“We were averaging about 250 people a day in our office,” Melroy said, describing a surge in in‑person activity. She also said the office mailed 1,027 ballots and had not yet processed 67 of those because they had not been returned by the statutory deadline.
Melroy described the county’s procedures for handling provisional and absentee ballots: voters who cast provisional ballots complete a provisional envelope that includes voter registration information, drop boxes are under camera surveillance, staff collect drop‑box ballots twice daily, and two employees sign a log showing counts and party representation for chain‑of‑custody purposes.
After the report, an unidentified commissioner moved to authorize staff to open the provisional ballots from the November election for processing and review; another commissioner seconded the motion, which passed by voice vote.
The board did not announce individual vote tallies, and Melroy said ballots that were ineligible under state statute were denied and will not be counted. The clerk’s office indicated that voters who had moved into McPherson County but were not registered here will be added to county rolls for future elections.
Next procedural steps: staff will proceed with the review of provisional envelopes as authorized by the board and continue routine updates to the voter rolls ahead of the next election.
