Resident raises concerns about hand-count procedures and poll-watcher treatment in special school election

Gina Ironside addressed the board during public commentary to present written observations from poll watchers at a Dec. 16 special school board election. "My name is Gina Ironside. I'm going to read a document which I'm gonna turn in," she told the board and said observers saw different procedures at each of the four polling sites.

Ironside congratulated the winner but said the observers' notes "bring into question whether sufficient training was provided to election inspectors for the specific procedures required by law for hand counting ballots." She further alleged that "a school board member, polling place in front of election inspectors and voters attempted to bully the team of observers" and that when presented with a copy of consolidated education law regulations governing elections, the board member "instructed the chief election inspector to ignore it," according to her statement to the board.

Ironside recommended that hand counting not be used as the sole method of tallying votes unless thorough training is carried out with each inspector to ensure compliance with education law and public confidence in results. She told the board she would submit her written observations to the clerk and offered to email additional materials.

No formal board response to the specific allegations was recorded in the meeting minutes; the superintendent acknowledged receipt of the comment and the clerk was asked to accept the written material for the record.