HOT SPRINGS – The dust appears to still be settling after last week’s June 2 primary election, with a runoff election happening on July 28 for the Republican gubernatorial nomination due to none of the four candidates receiving the needed 35% to avoid a second election. On that July 28 Republican ballot will be Toby Doeden, who received 31%, along with current Governor Larry Rhoden, who received 25%.
A recount is also slated for later this month to finalize the results of the three-person Fall River County Commission race, where Vince Logue earned the most votes with 36% (911 votes) to easily secure the top spot. In the contest for the second seat, incumbents Deborah Russell and Joe Falkenburg each earned 32% of the vote with the initial count showing Russell with just 14 more votes then Falkenburg (831 to 817). Since the difference is within the predetermined margin for a recount, Falkenburg had the choice to petition for one, which he did on Monday, June 8. According to Auditor Sue Ganje, that recount will likely take place on Monday, June 22.
In addition to these planned formalized proceedings, a pair of local candidates, who lost their elections last week, are now raising questions about the validity of the ballots and also whether or not proper election procedures were followed.
In regards to the latter, auditor candidate Cindy Burns – who finished third in a four-person race which saw Bobbie Janis win by a large margin with nearly as many votes as the other three combined – has expressed concern regarding how Janis (a current employee in the auditor’s office) had access to stored “voted and unvoted ballots inside the Auditor’s Office” while being allowed to continue working in the office during the election period.
Burns’ concerns are expressed in a Letter to the Editor published on page 4 of this newspaper, but she also went to Facebook with her accusations the day after the election which prompted Janis to also respond via social media as well as at last week’s June 4 County Commission meeting. At the commission meeting, Janis detailed at length every step of how ballots are handled in the county as well as how her office duties were adjusted to ensure she was not involved with handling or counting of any ballots which had her name on them, which is required by South Dakota Codified Law.
Current County Auditor Sue Ganje also addressed Burns’ concerns during the county commission meeting as well as during a phone interview with this newspaper on Monday, June 8, and stated she was confident proper procedures were followed and that Janis would not do anything improper to jeopardize the election or her employment with the county.
On Monday, the Fall River County Herald-Star reached out the Secretary of State’s office by phone and email to confirm the relevant codified laws and if their office felt the proper procedures were followed, but they did not respond by the deadline for this week’s paper.
In another local race, Hot Springs Ward 2 candidate Bob Sprentall is claiming the June 2 election ballot for the Hot Springs City Council races are invalid because the names of the candidates in both Ward 1 and Ward 2 were listed in a different order than what was decided by a “coin flip” done at City Hall this past March.
In last week’s June 2 election, Sprentall, who was listed second on the ballot underneath incumbent David James Burris for a one year term on the city council, lost by a margin of 42% (80 votes) for Sprentall to 58% (109 votes) for Burris.
According to an email stream which was shared by Sprentall with the Fall River County Herald-Star, as well as with several other entities including the Secretary of State’s office, Hot Springs City Finance Officer Misty Summers-Walton sent County Auditor Ganje an email on March 31 stating that Sprentall won a drawing for ballot order and should be listed first with Burris listed second.
Despite several weeks of absentee voting and sample ballots being published in the newspaper, no one had apparently noticed the error in the ballot order until Sprentall voted on June 2. He then reported the discrepancy to Summers-Walton who then contacted Ganje for an explanation.
In an email to both Sprentall and Summers-Walton, Ganje apologized for the error and for not double-checking the candidate ballot order for that race, but stated, “Going forward, when we have municipal or school candidates on our ballot, we will send a screen shot to the entity prior to printing.”
Sprentall responded by email and said, “Your apology is very much appreciated; however, this (along with other election discrepancies that I am aware of) indicate that this Ballot is invalid. I hereby contest the Ballot.”
He then highlighted three reasons for contesting the ballot and its validity, which included his name appearing second instead of first in the Ward 2 race and also the Ward 1 candidates (Randy Graham and Larry Pratt) also appearing out of order. In addition, Sprentall said Burris was to have been listed as David James Burris but was instead listed as David J. Burris, which were the directions given to Ganje by Summers-Walton via email.
In a phone interview with Sprentall on Monday, he stated that by including the Secretary of State’s (SOS) office in the aforementioned email correspondence with the city, county and newspaper, that he had formally submitted his grievance and that the SOS would need to make a ruling on the matter before the ballots could be canvassed.
Also in a phone interview with Summers-Walton on Monday, she said the city had consulted with their attorney who advised them to go ahead and proceed with the canvass, which was slated to happen on Tuesday, June 9 at 9 a.m.
Ganje also said the county consulted with States Attorney Lance Russell on the matter and then said, “We have no response other than the will of the voters is obvious with the large percentage of votes (58% vs 42%) cast for Burris.”
Again, the Fall River County Herald-Star attempted to get clarification on the matter from the SOS but a response was not received prior to the deadline for this week’s paper.
Overall statewide voter turnout for last week’s June 2 primary was 34.55% (171,729 of 497,046), with Fall River County’s voter turnout coming in slightly higher at 36.13% (2,100 of 5,811).
Following is a complete listing of the unofficial results of each race in which Fall River County voters helped decide last week. The winners are highlighted with an asterisk next to their name.
South Dakota Governor
* Toby Doeden – 31% (41,791 votes); Fall River results: 49% (886) * Larry Rhoden – 25% (34,379); Fall River results: 24% (432) Dusty Johnson – 23% (31,925); Fall River results: 16% (286) Jon Hansen – 21% (28,390); Fall River results: 12% (212)
U.S. Senator * Mike Rounds – 76% (101,471 votes); Fall River results: 71% (1,249) Justin McNeal – 24% (32,412); Fall River results: 29% (518) U.S. Representative * Marty Jackley – 79% (103,290 votes); Fall River results: 68% (1,144) James Bialota – 21% (27,140); Fall River results: 32% (544)
District 30 Representative
* Tim Goodwin – 39% (3,708 votes); Fall River results: 36% (973) * Trish Ladner – 36% (3,450); Fall River results: 40% (1,067) Stephen Saint – 24% (2,313); Fall River results: 24% (634)
District 30 Senator
* Amber Hulse – 67% (4,139 votes); Fall River results: 67% (1,185 votes) Julie Frye-Mueller – 33% (2,084); Fall River results: 33% (586)
County Auditor
* Bobbie Janis – 48% (731 votes) Everett Dossey – 22% (336) Cindy Burns – 18% (271) Carol Boche – 13% (195)
Sheriff
* Lyle Norton – 61% (1,044 votes) Scott Davis – 39% (672)
County Commissioner
* Vince Logue – 36% (911 votes) * Deborah Russell – 32% (831) Joe Falkenburg – 32% (817)
Hot Springs School Board * Sharon Romey – 35% (823 votes) * Holly Schultes – 28% (676) Michael Selzler – 21% (492) Jason Mazzocchio – 16% (392)
Ward 1 Hot Springs City Council * Larry Pratt – 53% (113 votes) Randy Graham – 47% (99)
Ward 2 Hot Springs City Council * David Burris – 58% (109 votes) Bob Sprentall – 42% (80)
Ward 4 Hot Springs City Council * Gary Telkamp – 61% (100 votes) Ryan Wermager – 39% (65)
Precinct Committeeman for Cascade * Hans Shaffer – 66% (55 votes) Bobby Ladner – 34% (28)
Precinct Committeewoman for Cascade * Tammie McKenzie – 67% (54 votes) Trish Ladner – 33% (27)
Precinct Committeeman for Jackson * Tim Hammel – 52% (206 votes) Mike Ortner – 48% (191)
Precinct Committeeman for Hot Springs Ward 1 * Perry Holmes – 78% (123 votes) Chris Pannill – 22% (35)