HomeMy WebLinkAbout[08] Convass Election •
CITY OF ST. JUSFPH Council Agenda Item 8
MEETING DATE: November 4, 2010
AGENDA ITEM: Canvass the Election
SUBMITTED BY: Administration
BOARD /COMMISSION /COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: The Election Judges will forwarded to
the City Council the election results for the November 2, 2010 Municipal Election. Due to the timing of
the election and the Council packet the results will be delivered on Wednesday.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: (Note: In the event the City does not have the final results, due to
legislative changes in absentee voting, a special meeting will need to be established.
16.2 CANVASS OF THE RETURNS
The city council serves as the canvassing board for city elections. The council must meet to canvass the returns and
declare the results within two days after a primary and within seven days after a city general election.
(M.S. 205.185, subd. 3; 205.065, subd. 5)
The steps to canvass the results are:
1. The clerk prepares a canvass report to accumulate results from multiple precincts; this report
may be available from the state Election Reporting System;
2. The clerk provides the canvassing board with the summary statements from the election judges
(and a canvass report for totals if more than one precinct in the city) to examine and declare the
results;
3. Inn the case of a tie vote, the canvassing board determines the winner by lot; and
4. Errors by election judges in counting may be corrected by following specific procedures as
prescribed by law. (M.S. 204C.3839; 205.185)
16.3.1 Discretionary Municipal Recounts
While there is no automatic recount for municipal elections, a losing candidate for nomination or election to a
municipal office may request a manual recount of the votes cast for the nomination or election to that office at the
jurisdiction's expense if the difference between the votes cast for that candidate and for a winning candidate for
nomination or election is Tess than one half of one percent of the total votes counted for that office or if the
difference between the vote cast for that candidate and for a winning candidate for nomination or election is ten
votes or less and the total number of votes cast for the nomination or election of all candidates is no more than
400. A losing candidate may request a recount at their own expense if the difference is greater than these stated
differences. In cases of offices where two or more seats are being filled from among all the candidates for the
office, the one half of one percent is the difference between the elected candidate with the fewest votes and the
candidate with the most votes from among the candidates who were not elected.
The candidate requesting the recount at their own expense may provide the filing officer with a list of up to three
precincts that are to be recounted first and may waive the balance of the recount after these recounts have been
counted. If the winner of the race is changed by the result of the recount or if the difference between the result of
the recount and what was reported on Election Day is more than the accepted margin of error for the post election
review, the cost of the recount is paid by the jurisdiction conducting the recount. (M.S. 204C.36, subd. 1; 204C.36,
subd. 2)
8:1
Result Information — Please find common questions and answers when reviewing election results:
Q: What are under votes?
A: The voter did not vote in the specific race or did not vote for the number of
candidates allowed.
EXAMPLE City Council — the ballot instructs the voter to vote for up to two
persons and the voter only casts on vote for John Smith. The
resulting tally would be one vote for John Smith and one under
vote.
0: What are over votes?
A: The voter cast more votes than allowed for a race.
EXAMPLE City Council — the ballot instructs the voter to vote for up to two
persons and the voter casts ballots for three. The resulting tally
would be two over votes, as the voter casts three votes when
only two are allowed.
Q: Why are there so many under votes?
A: It is not required to vote in each race and many times voters will not cast a
ballot in a race where they do not know the candidates or do not have an
interest. You also have a large .
EXAMPLE City Council — the ballot instructs the voter to vote for up to two
persons and the voter casts ballots for three. The resulting tally
would be two over votes, as the voter casts three votes when
only two are allowed.
Also, many times people will only vote for one candidate when
they are allowed two — this can either be a strategy or some
other reason.
BUDGET /FISCAL IMPACT:
ATTACHMENTS: Request for Council action 8:1 -2
Results to follow after election
REQUESTED COUNCIL ACTION: The required action would be to accept the results and declare the
wining candidates.
8:2