WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Carol Lukens remains the winning candidate in Wausau’s District 1 Alder race after a recount.
City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde announced the vote totals remain unchanged for the race, with Lukens getting 471 and 469 for John Kroll.
The recount team did note two issues were found with the ballots, though neither changed the outcome. A Ward 1 ballot that had to be remade was transposed on a Ward 2 ballot, though all votes and coding were marked correctly on the remade ballot. The other issue involved a voter number sticker being placed incorrectly in the poll book. Despite that, all voter numbers reconciled correctly for each ward.
Kroll does have five business days to challenge the results again in circuit court. If no such appeal is filed, then Bernarde will certify the results as final and Lukens will be determined as the winner.
Kroll called for the recount earlier this week, saying “in a race decided by little room for error, any discrepancies that may have occurred during ballot reprinting or transposing may change the election results.”
Wausau District 1 includes Wards 1 and 2, which experienced complications on election day when poll workers ran out of ballots. That led to a batch of new ballots being printed, which the vote-counting machines couldn’t read. A third batch was later printed which could be read.
There were a handful of write-in votes in the race, including one for Elvis.
