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By NEWS-BANNER STAFF
At 12 noon today, it appeared that Democrat Bette Erxleben will be the winner in the contest for the Bluffton Common Council District 1 seat.
As the News-Banner went to press today, preliminary results of a recount from the general election in November indicated that Erxleben had picked up two votes giving her an unofficial win over Republican incumbent Councilman Bob Bate by a total of 253 votes to 251.
Before declaring the recount totals as being official however, members of the recount commission were going through the list of voters in the four precincts of District 1 to make sure that there were no ineligible votes cast.
Court-appointed commissioners for the recount which began at 8:30 a.m. this morning are Lyle J. Cotton, 327 East Central Ave., representing the Republican party and Denny Lobsiger, 245 East Dustman Rd., representing the Democratic party. Roy R. Johnson, a registered republican, is serving as the recount mechanic because of his familiarity with the mechanics of the voting system used in the election at issue through his role as a member of the Wells County Election Board.
The Republican party sought the recount for Bate, the five-term Republican incumbent. The recount petition was filed Nov. 26 in Wells Superior Court by Wells County Republican Chair Dorothy Stinson.
The recount this morning was taking place at the Courthouse.
Among those present included both candidates as well as representatives from their respective parties. Representing the Democratic party was county chairman Chuck King while the GOP party was represented by Sandy Fair and Glenna Plummer.
Superior Court Judge Everett “Bill” Goshorn issued the order for the recount.
The Republican party sought the recount because in the event of a tie, the Common Council, which is controlled by the Democrats, would be required to break the tie.
Full details on today’s recount, which was expected to extend into the afternoon with the detailed check of registered voters, will appear in Wednesday’s News-Banner.
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