Update: La Cygne voters may have used different names for same person on write in votes

By Roger Sims

rsims@linncountyjournal.com

MOUND CITY – A double entry on an abstract of write-in votes and the use of a different first name could give Kent Wade a couple more votes in an election that will be decided by single digits. That is only because the difference between votes received by the top candidate and the 32 others receiving write-in votes for the three open seats on the La Cygne City Council was nine votes.

So how will two more votes for Wade make a difference?

First, the winner in the all-write-in contest was Robert Sullivan, a former mayor of the city, who received 10 votes. Second place went to Oscar Marino with nine votes. He actually expressed an interest in serving, and appeared before the council. The council subsequently voted to install him in a council seat in January to insure that a quorum was available if no other candidate ran.

In a story run on Monday, the Journal reported that third place, with six votes, went to Tommy Capp. However, Capp is an incumbent who opted not to file for reelection. In that story, the Journal reported that both Kent Wade and Emil Wilson, Mayor Debra Wilson's husband, both received five votes.

In a phone call to the Journal on Tuesday, Nov. 11, outgoing Councilman David Brenneman said that in checking with people he knew, Wade should have received more votes than the five the abstract prepared by the Linn County Clerk's office attributed to Wade.

In a closer inspection of the abstract, the staff at the Journal found that Wade may have received at least seven votes. The abstract from the county clerk's office had Kent Wade's name listed in two places, once with five votes and another place with one vote.

According to Brenneman, at least one person voted for Wade under his given first name, William. Sure enough, on the abstract William Wade's name appears followed by the notation that one vote was received.

Wade has been a proponent of fixing the city’s  rainwater drainage issues.

All vote counts are unofficial until the Linn County Commission has canvassed and approved the vote on Monday, Nov. 17. All of the vote counts do not include numbers from provisional ballots where poll workers tagged the ballot as having some problem.

Write-in candidates may also decline to accept the positions to which they were elected.