Damp ballots bog down election results
SANDPOINT - Bonner County voters will find out today who prevailed in the races for local offices.
Wet weather on Tuesday and an avalanche of absentee ballots slowed counting to a glacial pace because of repeated jams in the county's optical-scan ballot reader.
As of 11 p.m., election officials had begun counting the fifth precinct.
As a result, the counting was expected to continue into the wee hours of this morning.
"I expect to be greeting our treasurers when they come back in tomorrow," county Clerk Marie Scott said late Tuesday night. "It's going to be a long night."
Although the ballots from the county's 33 precincts were sealed in ballot boxes, rain throughout the day on Tuesday managed to dampen the paper ballots, causing them to stick together as they were fed into the machine.
Creases folded into the thousands of absentee ballots were also causing hang-ups, according to elections officials.
With just seven precincts tallied, only one candidate, Republican sheriff nominee Daryl Wheeler, appeared to be on track to victory in a contested race. Wheeler had amassed 1,910 votes, compared to Democrat Larry Hanna's 864.
Wheeler said Hanna essentially conceded the election after the first precinct was counted.
"I'm feeling very excited. I'm looking forward to taking on this job," Wheeler said as he made his way home.
Wheeler pulled double duty on Tuesday as an on-duty Sandpoint Police officer and a sheriff's candidate.
"I've been up since 3 a.m. I'm actually headed home to go to bed," he said.
Democrats Todd Crossett and Brian Orr were locked in close races for the District 1 and 2 spots on the county commission.
Crossett, the incumbent District 1 commissioner, held a slim lead over GOP nominee Cornel Rasor. Crossett had 1,488 votes to Rasor's 1,317 votes with seven precincts counted.
Crossett said he's made more sacrifices and put more commitment into his re-election run compared to his election in 2006. He said it remained unclear if the momentum behind his party on the national level would translate at the local level.
"Idaho's a different story. It may work that way, but it may be the opposite. It remains to be seen," he said.
Orr, a former District 2 commissioner, was trailing incumbent Republican Commissioner Joe Young by 167 votes. With seven precincts reporting, Young had 1,456 votes and Orr had 1,289.
Orr, having stood for election several times in the last decade, was unfazed by the suspense of waiting for election results to trickle in.
"It's autopilot at this point," said Orr.
Louis Marshall, a Republican running unopposed to succeed Prosecutor Phil Robinson, also wasn't sweating. He admitted he has big shoes to fill once Robinson departs office, but said he's looking forward to the job.
With seven precincts in, Marshall had 2,076 votes.
"I truly love serving the people of this county," said Marshall, currently a deputy prosecutor. "It's a great job."
• For updated election results, visit the county Web site at www.co.bonner.id.us/Clerk/elections.html