Umatilla County recounts are still tied

PENDLETON – Nearly a month after the May special election, two races in Umatilla County ended up in ties and required a recount Tuesday. They are Milton-Freewater Valley Ambulance District Position Four and McKay Dam Fire District Position Five. In both races no candidate filed and all of the votes were write-ins.

In the Milton-Freewater race 21 different names were written in out of 28 votes cast for that position. For the McKay Dam Fire District, 15 write-in votes were cast spread among six different names.

“This is just a verification of what the machines counted,” County Elections Supervisor Stephen Craigen said. “After this process if there’s still a tie then we’re going to look at qualifications for the candidates that are tied to see if they’re eligible to hold the office. If they’re eligible to hold the office then we’re going to notify them that there will be a tiebreaker.”

After the recount, the ties in both elections were confirmed.

A total of 853 ballots that were eligible for the Milton-Freewater race were “under votes” meaning no vote was written in specifically for that race. That number was 165 in the McKay election. Craigen said a situation like this is a reminder that every vote counts.

“Less than one percent of the individuals that are eligible to cast a ballot for this election are going to be determining who is going to be the directors,” he said.

A couple of voters showed a sense of humor with their write-in choices. Forest Gump had one vote for the McKay Dam Fire District and Santa Claus got a single vote in Milton-Freewater.

MYCB photo by Griffin Beach show (L-R) Stephen Craigen and Dan Lonai during the recount

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Elkhorn Media Group