Name: Petitions for Racine Unified referendum recount has been filed
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Petitions for Racine Unified referendum recount has been filed

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Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisPetitions for Racine Unified referendum recount has been filedShare thisRACINE — At least one petition asking for a recount of the votes in the Racine Unified School District April 7 referendum has been filed, Racine Unified spokesperson Stacy Tapp confirmed Wednesday morning.The district’s 30-year referendum passed by a margin of just five votes: 16,748 to 16,743, when many people cast their ballots by mail to avoid in-person voting due to safety concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.The Racine Unified School District Board of Canvassers certified the election results on Tuesday, confirming that the district’s referendum passed by a margin of just five votes.The referendum money is set to fund $598 million in projects, including construction as well as debt service for that work. In total, it allows the district to levy $1 billion over 30 years.After the board certified the results, anyone who voted in that election could file a petition to request a full recount.George Meyers, a member of the and one of the three hosts of the , filed a petition on behalf of HOT Government. In the afternoon, HOT Government posted on Facebook, saying it filed the petition that got the recount process started.HOT (Honest, Open, Transparent) Government made the following statement Wednesday: “Hot Government a grassroots citizen’s organization stands for honest, open and transparent government. HOT believes the Racine Unified billion-dollar referendum was electioneered and politically motivated by the City of Racine. There are number of discrepancies that we want to investigate, and we will continue to keep the public informed.”When asked to clarify what the group meant by “electioneered” and what alleged discrepancies need to be investigated, HOT Government replied: “This investigation begins with the recount. Further information will be released as it becomes available.”The petition filed by Meyers alleges that poll workers who supported the referendum performed “electioneering” at polling places and that “ballots were changed to falsely represent the intents of the voter,” although no direct evidence was included in the petition.Another Racine man, Troy Bellows, said that he also filed a petition with RUSD Clerk John Heckenlively.In his petition, Bellows said that not counting ballots received after Election Day (as had been ordered by the Supreme Court of the United States, overruling a federal judge’s earlier decision) “is a clear violation of he laws of the State of Wisconsin” because of the “circumstances of the COVID-19 Safer at Home Executive Order.”Both Meyers’ and Bellows’ petitions request that every ward within the school district be recounted. And both petition requests appear to have been stamped by a “Notary Public” of the State of Wisconsin. A Notary Public, as defined by the National Notary Association, “is an official of integrity appointed by state government ... to serve the public as an impartial witness in performing a variety of official fraud-deterrent acts related to the signing of important documents.”The Journal Times submitted an open records request for the petition(s) that Racine Unified received, but the request had not yet been fulfilled as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.First, the recount petition must be verified. That includes:, the recount must begin “no earlier than 9 a.m. on the day following delivery of notice to all candidates and no later than 9 a.m. on the day following the last day for filing the recount petition.” The last day to file the recount petition was Friday. But it’s unclear if a recount would start over the weekend.The Elections Commission recommends that the recount be conducted by the Board of Canvassers that confirmed the original votes.“However, in the event one of the original members is unavailable when the recount is scheduled to begin, other qualified individuals may be appointed to fill the temporary vacancy. If a member of the Board of Canvassers is unavailable for the recount, the clerk should be notified immediately and a list of qualified replacements composed before the recount begins,” the WEC handbook said. Tabulators can also be hired by the Board of Canvassers to help, and the WEC recommends hiring “election inspectors who worked the polls on Election Day (to) serve as tabulators.”The tabulators can decide to recount the ballots by hand or they can use voting equipment.There is an eight-step process for a recount, and several of those eight steps include multiple steps within them.1. Polling lists are reconciled. The Board of Canvassers must confirm “the total number of voters, the number of absentee votes recorded, and identify any irregularities appearing on these lists.”2. Review absentee ballots. After confirming the number of absentee ballots, the Board of Canvassers must review the application for each absentee ballot. If no written application for an absentee ballot can be found, such as someone who requested a ballot in-person at a clerk’s office, a court (not the Board of Canvassers) should decide whether the ballot in question should be counted. Previously rejected absentee ballots, such as those that were believed to have been delivered late or did not have a witness signature or did not include an address, must be rechecked.3. Examine containers. Ballot bags and containers must be checked to see if they were “tampered with” or have any other “irregularities.”4. Reconcile ballot count. The ballots in every ballot bag or container must be recounted to ensure records are current. The same goes for the number of absentee ballots, making sure that the number of mailed-in ballots match the number of envelopes. After all that, the total number of actual ballots must be cross-referenced with the previously recorded number of voters.5. Review provisional ballots. The Board of Canvassers must now review several forms created during the ballot-counting process “to determine if provisional ballots were correctly processed.”6. Count the votes. Those conducting the recount have a couple options about how to determine the vote’s actual count, unless a court orders them to recount in a specific way. The Elections Commission’s guidance is as follows:“When counting ... ballots, questions often arise concerning the intent of the elector. Election officials have a duty to attempt to determine voter intent and give effect to that intent if it can be determined. Election officials are expected to use common sense to determine the will of an elector based on the marks made by the elector on the ballot. The decisions of the election inspectors may be reviewed by the board of canvassers conducting the recount. Even if an elector has not fully complied with the provisions of the election law,” such as if a circle on a ballot is not perfectly filled in, “votes should be counted as intended by the elector to the extent that the elector’s intent can be determined.”To hand count ballots, tabulators are first instructed to sort ballots into stacks by candidate: in this case, voting “Yes” on the referendum or “No.” Then, those stacks will be separated into stacks of equal numbers (such as stacks of 25) to be counted. The final vote can then be tallied.To count ballots using an “optical scan” machine, tabulators simply need to refeed the ballots into the machine (or machines) to recount the election in question, but are instructed to not allow the machine to recount the votes of any other elections on the ballot for which there is not a recount.7. Secure original documents. All ballots and other materials from the election must “be accounted for before proceeding” to the final step.8. Prepare canvass statement. After all that, a new statement of the final vote must be issued only if any discrepancies are identified. That statement must then be forwarded to the school board clerk, Heckenlively. A copy of the minutes from the recount must also be sent to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.If the petitioner, Meyers, wishes to challenge the results of the recount, he will have five days to do so by filing an appeal with the circuit court.The recount is required to be open to the public. “Any person may attend the recount,” the WEC said plainly.However, a date for the referendum recount has not yet been set.During the recount, “The canvass board members and the tabulators are the only persons who may handle and touch the ballots and other election materials. The board of canvassers must, however, allow the candidates and their representatives and/or legal counsel to view and identify the election materials.”Those who attend the recount as observers must “wear badges or nametags identifying themselves and their role,” such as saying they are a candidate, are a member of the media, or are representing a candidate.Observers can also be removed if they engage “in disruptive behavior that in the opinion of the board of canvassers threatens the orderly conduct of the recount.”Journal Times reporter Caitlin Sievers contributed to this report.To read copies of HOT Government's and Troy Bellows' petitions requesting a recount of the April 7 Racine Unified School District referendum, find this story at JournalTimes.com.Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.Meyers{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisPetitions for Racine Unified referendum recount has been filedShare thisRACINE — At least one petition asking for a recount of the votes in the Racine Unified School...

Petitions for Racine Unified referendum recount has been filed

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