Walker votes recounted after election judges' error

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller and his staff are conducting a recount this afternoon of last week's election results in Grant Township after an error by election judges at the polling place in Walker.

County supervisors approved Miller's request during their work session this morning. With only 421 votes cast, Miller said he expects to have the recount finished by the end of the work day.

Miller said he discovered the error during his election day visit to the precinct. Election judges accidentally placed nine rejected ballots with the general returns instead of in a “bypass” bin in the voting machine.

“They placed the ballots in the wrong slot,” Miller told the supervisors.

The recount is unlikely to effect the outcome of any races in the township, but bring to light any ballot that should have been rejected for a valid reason and deduct it from the total.