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Barnes launches independent write-in campaign for UG position

by Mary Rupert

Nathan Barnes, who was one vote shy of going on to the general election, said tonight he would be a write-in candidate for Unified Government Commission, 1st District, at large.

After a voter canvass and a recount of the primary ballots, Barnes was in third place with 1,104 votes, one vote less than Mark Gilstrap’s 1,105 votes, and 25 votes short of Melissa Bynum’s 1,129 votes.

“I’m just for fairness and inclusion,” Barnes said about his main goal in running. “We’ve experienced a lot of people being pushed away, underserved, they haven’t had a voice. A lot felt left out.”

Barnes said he was in favor of using any windfall of revenues the UG receives when STAR bonds are paid off toward the reduction of property taxes.

He said he was not running to hurt any candidate, and one of his reasons for running is to address low voter turnout.

“People have come to realize that every vote does count, and hopefully we can pick up some momentum from losing in the primary by one vote,” he said. “It would send a message that every vote does count, and we want the best choice in office.”

Barnes was at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center Thursday night, where there was a school board candidate forum.

He said an ad hoc committee had approached him to ask him to run as a write-in candidate. He said the committee felt since he was only 25 votes out of first place, that he should run as there was more diversity needed for this position, and they felt he was the best qualified, with experience, and is an independent thinker who was not part of a pack or group.

Barnes, a small business owner, served as the 1st District UG commissioner for 18 years before running for mayor two years ago.

Barnes had been a finalist for the appointment to the same seat, 1st District, at large, about two years ago when the UG Commission could not find six votes for any candidate. The position was unfilled since then.

“As you remember I told you over two years ago when you asked me what the hardest thing would be for the mayor, and I told you filling that position,” Barnes remarked. Two years later he finds himself the proof of that statement, he added.

After being asked by the ad hoc committee, Barnes agreed to run as the write-in candidate. The 1st District, at large, candidates will run countywide in the general election.

“The people are fed up with business as usual,” Barnes said. “They want good government. They can’t get it from special interest groups.”

Jesse Hall is leading Barnes’ campaign. He said he was part of a group of three persons who called Barnes. They were not happy with the election results, he said. Some provisional votes were counted at the canvass and some were not, and only one vote stopped Barnes from advancing to the general election.

“It just didn’t seem right,” Hall said.

Hall also said he didn’t think the 1st District, at large UG Commission seat should have been unfilled for two years. “Basically, we have taxation with no representation,” he said.

To vote for Barnes, a voter will have to find the UG, 1st District, at large category, then write “Nathan Barnes” on the blank line on the ballot, and fill in the oval next to the line, he said.

While he understands that historically, odds are not good for write-in candidates, Hall believes Barnes can win this time. In the primary election, the black vote was split five ways in a seven-candidate field, he said.

“The numbers are going to show if a (primary) winner got 1,200 votes, the winning candidate is expected to get around 2,300 votes (in the general election),” he said. “Our question was, can we muster 2,400 votes?”

“We felt very strongly we could get 2,400 votes,” Hall said.

“This is the second time in two years this candidate has lost by one vote,” Hall said. He was referring to a 5-4 commission vote on the appointive position two years ago, and the primary election earlier this month.

Barnes will know on Election Day, April 7, if his third try for this office is successful.

Send your news and comments to Wyandotte Daily at [email protected].

To see previous stories about this contest, visit:

https://wyandotteonline.com/analysis-conservative-moderate-battle-for-ug-1st-district-at-large-contest/

https://wyandotteonline.com/candidates-for-ug-commission-1st-district-at-large-differ-on-experience-changes-they-want-to-make/

https://wyandotteonline.com/no-change-after-barnes-vote-recount-bynum-gilstrap-advance-to-general-election/

https://wyandotteonline.com/barnes-asks-for-election-recount/

https://wyandotteonline.com/barnes-files-for-1st-district-at-large-ug-seat/

For more information about voting, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/three-contests-on-the-april-7-ballot-countywide/

No change after Barnes’ vote recount; Bynum, Gilstrap advance to general election

Election Commissioner Bruce Newby today announced that there was no change in the voter recount. The Board of Canvassers approved the recount total at its meeting today. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert) — Election Commissioner Bruce Newby today announced that there was no change in the vote recount. The Board of Canvassers approved the recount total at its meeting today. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

One vote separates second and third place in primary results

by Mary Rupert
After a recount of votes Wednesday resulted in the same outcome, the primary election results were certified this morning. Nathan Barnes was still one vote shy of going on to the general election.

Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Bruce Newby said the recount showed the same results as after the initial voter canvass Monday morning. The recount totals were Melissa Bynum, 1,129; Mark Gilstrap, 1,105; and Nathan Barnes, 1,104; for Unified Government Commissioner, 1st District, at large.

Melissa Bynum, who led in the vote totals by 24 votes, said it would be important to get out to vote in the general election.

“A low voter turnout is going to be indicative of a close race,” Bynum said. “I would love to have a huge voter turnout.

“It’s important for people to understand if this process we’ve been through this week doesn’t highlight the importance of your vote, then you can’t learn that lesson,” Bynum said. It illustrates the importance of a vote as dramatically as anything she’s ever seen, she added.

Mark Gilstrap, who made it to the general election with only one vote to spare, said, “We’re very excited about the end results that we will be moving on to the general election.”

“I tried to impress on my friends before the primary to get out and vote, that every single vote counts. And this is the proof that every vote counts,” Gilstrap said.

If the general election is anything like the primary, it should be a fair and decent process, he said.

Barnes did not attend today’s Board of Canvassers meeting at the Election Office, 850 State Ave. Newby said that he had called Barnes on Thursday to inform him of the vote recount total.

Newby said the votes were counted by hand by precinct for the Unified Government Commissioner, 1st District at large race. A supervising election judge and 12 workers were convened for the recount on Wednesday, March 11, he said.

Two-person teams sorted the ballots cast by precinct, followed by sorting precinct ballots by candidate, and then hand-counted all the ballots, according to the election commissioner. Each sort and count was verified at least twice, Newby said.

Barnes was required to pay a bond in order to do the recount.

Newby said that ballots are scheduled to go out next Wednesday, and he hasn’t been able to print them yet.

For earlier stories, see https://wyandotteonline.com/one-vote-shy-of-advancing-barnes-says-hell-ask-for-vote-recount/

https://wyandotteonline.com/barnes-asks-for-election-recount/

Melissa Bynum, who was first in the primary election results for Unified Government commissioner, 1st District at large,, said today that the close contest illustrates the importance of a vote as dramatically as anything she’s ever seen. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

Mark Gilstrap, who made it to the general election with only one vote to spare, today said, "This is the proof that every vote counts." (Staff photo by Mary Rupert) — Mark Gilstrap, who made it to the general election with only one vote to spare, today said, “This is the proof that every vote counts.” (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

Barnes asks for election recount

Nathan Barnes, who ended up one vote shy of advancing to the general election after the canvass of votes Monday, has now formally asked for a recount, which will be conducted on Wednesday. (Staff file photo by Mary Rupert)

Nathan Barnes, a candidate for Unified Government commissioner, 1st District at large, who came in one vote short of going on to the general election, has filed for a vote recount today, Election Commissioner Bruce Newby said.

Newby said the recount will be conducted at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 11, at the Election Office, 850 State Ave.

After the recount, the Board of Canvassers will meet soon, and he will try to convene them on Friday, to certify the vote recount, he said. It will be the board’s decision whether to accept the recount numbers or not. He added he will not release the vote recount until after the Board of Canvassers has certified it.

In the canvass of votes, the official certified total that was announced on Monday, March 9, was Melissa Bynum, 1,129 votes; Mark Gilstrap, 1,105 votes; and Nathan Barnes, 1,104 votes. Only the top two go on to the general election.

The number of votes changed slightly at the canvass, because 43 provisional votes were counted, but the outcome of the election did not change Monday. Another 24 provisional votes were not counted by the Board of Canvassers.

Barnes, a UG commissioner for 18 years from the 1st District, paid a $2,730 bond in order to ask for a recount today, Newby said.

The recount will cover all the ballots that were cast for the UG Commission 1st District, at large contest, Newby said. It totals 62 precincts, about 5,000 ballots. It will be a recount of every ballot cast in that contest, he said.

Newby said the cost of the recount is less than what has been previously charged. When he first started, he estimated the cost of a recount at $6,000, and a few years ago, it was $3,500, he said. He said he has pinpointed the costs of the recount, as allowed under state law, to include items such as the cost of personnel to do the recount, a special board, temporary employees and other costs outlined under the law.

Newby said Barnes has requested the recount to be done by hand. The election night vote count was done by optical scan readers, a machine count, he said.

Newby said his previous experience with recounts is that the election results were “dead-on.”

“I’m not saying at this point the numbers won’t change, but I sure don’t expect it to happen,” he said. “If it does happen I will want to know why.”

“But I have never found the machines to be off, only people,” Newby said. “It was the reason we went to voting machines in the first place, because people couldn’t count.”

Another issue was raised at the canvass on Monday, and Newby said he asked for a legal opinion on a question that was raised by another candidate. BPU candidate Thomas Gordon brought up the issue of an “objections board.”

Newby said that he received a legal opinion after the meeting that the statute quoted by Gordon applied only to the nomination process and not the conduct of the election. The statute does not apply to the normal procedures for challenging an election, which include either asking for a recount or a contest of an election in court, Newby said.

Newby said he has to start sending ballots out for the April 7 general election soon. The ballots can’t be printed until the primary election results are final.

To see an earlier story, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/one-vote-shy-of-advancing-barnes-says-hell-ask-for-vote-recount/.