Marshalltown bond issue vote turns from No to Yes after recount

A recount of last week’s vote on a bond issue for the Marshalltown Schools has reversed the outcome from “No” to “Yes.” The original count showed only 59-percent approval with 60-percent required for passage. The recount turned the vote to nearly 62-percent approval. Marshall County Assistant Auditor Dawn Williams says they did the re-count after the discovery of multiple counting errors following the election. She says the number of voters who signed in did not balance with the number of people who signed in. Williams says the possible reason for the error could’ve been in the how the hand count was conducted and how the votes were tallied in one particular precinct. It was a math error in which they apparently had piles of yes and piles of no ballots and either put them in the wrong column, or made a math error. Williams say the hand counting was used instead of scanning equipment for the initial results to save money. She says Iowa code directs auditors to county by hand if it’s cheaper than using the scanning equipment. At first glance, it may seem like the almost three percent error between the recount and the original count is too high. Williams says the process adds more integrity to the final results, as they were able to show both sides how the process worked. She says the ballots were sealed and signed by the precinct workers and they were able to unseal them and count them in front of representatives on both sides to show them the ballots were counted correctly. The results will not be final until the votes are canvassed by the Marshall County Supervisors this afternoon.