Lincoln County Auditor's Office conducts public drawing to set ballot order

The Lincoln County Auditor's Office conducted a public drawing to determine the ballot order for multiple local races and precinct committee positions, a staff member said. The county drew numbered balls for each contest and assigned ballot positions as the balls came out of the cage.

Staff opened the session by explaining the procedure: the office would announce each race and the number of candidates, place the corresponding numbered bingo balls into a drawing cage, and draw them to establish ballot order. Staff emphasized that the county will not post the candidate order until the Secretary of State finalizes and enters the state candidate order.

The drawing assigned the following positions in contested races. For Registered Deeds, Becky Vanderbrook (B1) drew first place and Lana Lee (B2) drew second. In County Commissioner District 3, Amy Harms drew the first position and Tiffany Landine the second. For County Commissioner District 5, Joanie Extramm drew first (B1) and Mike Matthysse second (B2). For delegates to the state convention, seven candidates were listed; the drawing resulted in Trish Murphy first, Betty Atten second, Thomas R. Woman third, Joel Erenss fourth, Pamela Hardy fifth, Herman Autton sixth and Elliot Nef seventh.

The auditor's staff proceeded through a series of precinct committee races. Notable assignments included William Truman receiving the top spot for Precinct Committee Man 13-14; Seth Moer first for Precinct Committee Man 15; Jerry Jungling first for Precinct Committee Man 16; Thomas Wernner first for Precinct Committee Man 27; Steven L. Perkins first for Sou Falls 1-11; Mark A. Hoffman first for Sou Falls 112 (with Arch Bill second and Patrick Foley third); Trenton Arland first for Sou Falls 118; Eric Nyberg first for Sou Falls 211; William G. Peterson first for Sou Falls 215; Adam Bruin first for Sou Falls 216; Joshua Chase first for Sou Falls 219; Linda Montgomery first for Precinct Committee Woman 0221; Holly J. Karns first for Precinct Committee Woman 16; Kaia Broers first for Precinct Committee Woman 2313; Amy Harms first for Precinct Committee Woman Sou Falls 112 (Pam Sharping second, Tiffany Landine third); Kimberly Bishop first for Precinct Committee Woman Sou Falls 118; Christine David first for Precinct Committee Woman Sou Falls 211; and Runata Smith first for Precinct Committee Woman Sou Falls 213.

The staff member concluded the drawing and reiterated that the county will update its website once the Secretary of State finalizes the candidate order at the state level. No motions or votes were taken; the proceeding was an administrative drawing to assign ballot positions.

The county did not provide a date for updating the website during the drawing; staff said the update will follow the Secretary of State's entry of the state candidate order.