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Lincoln County certifies June 2 primary results amid dispute over canvass thoroughness
Summary
Lincoln County commissioners approved the official canvas of the June 2 primary, certifying 14,117 ballots cast and a 31.86% turnout, and drew two precincts for a required post-election audit. The meeting included a contested exchange over how strictly commissioners should 'tabulate' precinct returns under administrative rule 5.02.17.12.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on June 4 approved the official canvas of the June 2 primary, certifying that 14,117 ballots were cast and that overall turnout was 31.86%. Auditor Sherry Lund told the board an election-night reporting error in precinct 114 — where results were reported twice in unofficial night reporting — was identified and corrected and did not affect the official results.
Why it matters: certifying the canvas is the formal step that finalizes vote totals and initiates the post-election audit process. Commissioners must confirm materials from each precinct and may request additional review or a special meeting if they are not satisfied.
Auditor Lund opened the canvass presentation by reading county totals and walking commissioners through the materials they were provided — registration binders, poll books, DS850 results, tally sheets and recap forms. "The issue was limited to the unofficial election night reporting process and did not affect the integrity of the election," Lund said when explaining the precinct 114 discrepancy.
A substantive disagreement among commissioners followed about how much review the administrative rule requires. Commissioner Putnham defended a more exhaustive, precinct-by-precinct review. "My definition of tabulate could be to correlate and correspond every single name," he said, describing that a full review of a large precinct took him about 30 minutes. Other commissioners described sampling as an acceptable and customary approach and said a 100% review can be impractical for every precinct.
The chair called for a motion to "approve and execute the abstract of the results of the votes cast for each candidate and each ballot issue," and after discussion the commission voted to approve the abstract. Clerk Alicia recorded the roll call with Commissioners Putnham, Schmidt, Arens and Landine voting yes; the motion carried.
The board then conducted the random draw required for a post-election audit, to be held June 16 at 10:00 a.m. Lund explained the process: the county must include at least 5% of precincts in a manual (hand) recount and state law prohibits using electronic devices for the draw, so bingo balls were used to select the two precincts. The commission drew Sou Falls precincts 114 and 210 and selected the U.S. Representative contest and Charter Amendment B among the contests to be reviewed. Lund clarified that "manual" in this context refers to required counting rules and that the audit will include hand review of selected ballots.
Public comment during the canvass included praise for the auditor and election staff. Citizen Chad Scouse commended the county "for an efficient, well-run, organized, transparent" process. Beth Coyle of Harrisburg said she appreciated Commissioner Arens's thorough review and urged refresher training so all commissioners know the canvassing steps.
What happens next: the commission certified the abstract and set the post-election audit for June 16 at 10:00 a.m. in the commission room; the audit will manually count ballots from the drawn precincts and the selected contests.
