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Toole County canvass board certifies 2025 city election results for Kievan and Sunburst
Summary
The Toole County canvass board reviewed hand counts and ballot reports for the 2025 municipal elections in Kievan and Sunburst, confirmed vote totals and provisional rejections, explained recount rules, and approved the canvas by voice vote.
The Toole County canvass board reviewed and approved the canvas of the 2025 municipal elections for the towns of Kievan and Sunburst and accepted the hand-counted results in a voice vote.
The Clerk reported Kievan mailed 69 ballots, received 42 accepted ballots and had 25 unreturned ballots; one provisional ballot was rejected because the envelope lacked the voter’s birth year, a requirement the Clerk referred to as a “new statute.” The Clerk said Bob Fagan received 23 votes in the Kievan mayoral contest and that Robert Fisher and Jim Jordan were the top vote-getters for council. The Clerk also noted irregular ballot marking in some council contests—one ballot voted for all three candidates while five ballots marked only a single candidate when two choices were allowed.
The Clerk said Sunburst had 198 ballots sent, 87 counted, 101 not returned and two provisional ballots rejected for missing birth-year information on the outer envelope. The Clerk reported Holly Haviland (transcript also records the name as Hovland) won the Sunburst mayoral write-in contest with 71 votes; the board recorded a 43.94% turnout in Sunburst and a 60.87% turnout in Kievan.
On recount rules the Clerk explained that a candidate may petition for a recount within five days after the board certifies the canvas. The Clerk said the statute ties the cost of a recount to the margin: if the margin is a quarter of 1% or less the county pays; otherwise the candidate pays. The Clerk added that when the margin is 10 votes or fewer the candidate does not have to pay for the recount.
The Clerk provided tally sheets and computer printouts showing accepted, rejected and undeliverable ballots, organized by batch number and date received. Board members asked procedural questions about batching and late-registration processing; the Clerk described daily batch processing and how in-person and mailed ballots are tracked.
Votes at a glance - Approval of Nov. 6 meeting minutes: motion made and seconded; approved by voice vote. - Approval of the 2025 city election canvas: motion made and seconded; approved by voice vote.
The Chair noted no further business and adjourned the meeting.
