by Mary Rupert
General election results were certified this morning, and Rose Mulvany Henry won one of the closest contests, the Board of Public Utilities, at large position 3 race, with David Haley in second.
While 138 additional votes were counted today at the canvass at the Wyandotte County Election Office and the vote totals changed, none of the Nov. 5 election night outcomes changed, according to election officials.
The new vote totals for Mulvany Henry were 6,206 to Haley’s 6,169, a difference of 37 votes. In the certified totals today, Haley narrowed the 44-vote election night margin. Unofficial results before today’s provisional ballots were counted had Mulvany Henry ahead by 50, as some mail-in ballots came in after the Nov. 5 election night, by Nov. 9.
Both Mulvany Henry and Haley attended the Board of Canvassers meeting today, awaiting the certified results.
“I’m grateful to the community for putting their faith in me,” Mulvany Henry said after the meeting.
Sen. Haley, who did not concede on election night because of the close vote, said, “I’m glad we’ll have a new voice on the board, to hopefully raise the voice of the public, and every vote does count.”
Haley recalled that in one of his early career elections, he won election by only five votes in the primary, and in 2006, when he ran for Kansas secretary of state, he was ahead in the primary by only about 200 votes.
The incumbent for BPU, at large position 3, Norm Scott, did not get through the crowded primary field.
The new Wyandotte County voter turnout percentage for the fall election increased slightly to 16.94 percent with the certified totals.
While Election Commissioner Bruce Newby today recommended counting 158 provisional ballots, he did not recommend counting another 58 provisional ballots.
According to the election commissioner, these ballots that were not counted included 19 who were not registered to vote; 28 who did not sign the voter affidavit in the advance mail ballot; three who changed their address but did not turn in a voter registration application for it; four who changed their names but did not turn in a voter registration application for it; one who moved out of the county; one who did not provide a photo identification before the canvass; and two who voted twice, one in advance voting and once at the polling place on Election Day.
About 25 provisional ballots were counted from voters who cast ballots at the wrong precinct, and 23 with address changes who voted at the correct precinct, according to election office information. About 19 voters voted the wrong precinct ballot and seven provisional ballots voted the correct precinct ballot, and were counted.
Nine ballots were counted from those who voted at a correct precinct, with a voter registration application; while 24 voters cast the correct precinct provisional ballot at the polls, which was counted, but they had been sent an advance ballot that they did not cast.
Twelve voters in the same households signed each other’s ballot envelopes, but were counted anyway, while 17 voters signed the ballot envelope in the wrong place, and were counted, according to election office information.
The final certified results for the general election are posted online at the Wyandotte County Election Office website at www.wycovotes.org, and at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56606b47e4b0b9403ad6ff96/t/5dd2f3ed6b252731315e5e63/1574106093840/SKM_C36819111812490.pdf.
Earlier stories about the election may be found at https://wyandotteonline.com/not-over-yet-mulvany-henry-cautiously-optimistic-about-44-vote-lead-in-election-haley-also-remains-optimistic/ and https://wyandotteonline.com/mulvany-henry-wins-bpu-at-large-position-3-ramirez-wins-ug-3rd-district/
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