Park tax passes in recount

CHARLESTON - A recount has determined the East Prairie parks tax passed by two votes.

According to the election recount certification, there were 434 votes for the sales tax proposition and 432 against.

Junior DeLay, county clerk, explained there were originally 44 undervotes - ballots in which no vote was cast on the issue - tallied by the electronic ballot tabulator.

During the recount it was discovered that there were actually only 40 undervotes with four ballots improperly voted that clearly showed the voters' intent.

Election judges duplicated those ballots which were then substituted for the improperly voted ballots for a recount as instructed in the Code of State Regulations.

The result of this recount was a net gain of three "yes" votes and one "no" vote on the tax.

DeLay said this situation illustrates the importance of properly marking a ballot. As the instructions to voters say, voters should darken the oval completely. When ballots are properly filled out, the electronic ballot tabulator has been rated as 99.9997 percent accurate.