THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE
Marinette Recount Shows Initial Vote Tally Was Correct
Issue Date: April 13, 2022
By very narrow margins, voters in the City of Marinette returned all three incumbent alderpersons to their positions on Marinette City Council in balloting on Tuesday, April 5.
Because the tallies were so close, two of the defeated challengers petitioned for recounts, which were held on Monday, April 11.
With recount numbers exactly the same as the outcomes reported on election day, incumbent District 1 Alderperson Ken Keller won by a nine-vote margin over challenger Kathy Korchak, 134 to 125, and Alderperson-at-Large Dorothy Kowalski won by an 18-vote margin over challenger Tom Karban, 631 to 613.
Later this month, Keller and Kowalski will be seated for new 2-year seats on Marinette City Council, as will Mike Wolfe, who drew 80 votes to win the District Four Alderperson race, defeating challenger Tom Bero, with 64 votes. Wolfe had been appointed to replace David Anderson.
Electors from all eight of the city's Aldermanic districts (Wards) vote for the Alderperson-at-Large, which accounts for the disparity in the total number of votes.
With their results so close, Korchak and Karbon had both filed recount petitions on Thursday, April 7. The recounts, which were held on Monday, April 11, confirmed that the initial tallies were correct, Marinette City Clerk Lana Bero reported.
Bero said because the recount required more space than was available at Marinette City Hall, County Clerk Kathy Brandt made arrangements for it to take place in the County Board Room of the Courthouse across the street.
Space was needed to accommodate the 10-member team of election inspectors, who actually count the ballots; the 3-member Board of Canvassers; candidates; election observers, and others who may simply want to watch the proceedings.
Bero said the full recount, with canvassing, took about four hours. Counting by the 10 election inspectors started at 9 a.m. and was done by noon, after which the Board of Canvassers did the certification and everyone, including election inspectors and observers, completed paper work before official results were reported at 1:20 p.m.
The Board of Canvassers included Bero, Deputy City Clerk Melinda Campbell, and Mary Bourdelais, a city employee in the clerk's office.
Keller was the only one of the four candidates who was not present for at least a portion of the recount.
Bero said she was pleased with how smoothly everything went for the recount, and commented: "Having the paper ballots to do a physical recount worked very well."
With the Dominion voting machines used in the City of Marinette, and this year for the first time in every voting district in Marinette County, voters mark paper ballots and then feed the actual ballot into the machine that does the counting.
Bero said the city's voting area is set up to be very secure, with only the voter knowing what is on their ballot. The election official is the only person on hand when the voter puts his or her own ballot into the machine, where it is automatically counted before dropping into a storage secure box beneath the machine. She said the area is secured by ropes and other dividers so no one but the voter can see how they voted, and having the actual paper ballots saved as they are counted makes the recount accurate and secure.