(Okoboji)– We may not have heard the last yet when it comes to the race for Mayor in Okoboji.
Unofficial results from last Tuesday’s election had incumbent Mayor Mary Vander Woude winning over challenger Leo “Butch” Parks by 13 votes. An official canvas of those results at today’s (Tuesday’s) Dickinson county board of supervisors meeting narrowed the difference even more, giving Vander Woude an advantage by only eight votes.
The difference, according to County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Nancy Reiman, is five provisional absentee ballots. The county’s Absentee Board met Monday and determined those ballots should be included in the official tally.
Reiman also confirmed this (Tuesday) morning the Secretary of State’s Office is now looking into some absentee ballots cast in the election.
As of this (Tuesday) morning, Reiman says her office has not received a formal request for a recount. The deadline for a candidate to file such a request is 5:00 p.m. this coming Friday, November 18th.
