One person, one vote. The concept seems incredibly simple and sensible.
But when write-in votes enter the equation, the result is anything but simple or sensible as it was in the April 7 Jefferson County election.
Three Jefferson County villages received a relative groundswell of write-in candidates in the recent election.
No candidates filed for the three open seats on the Scotsdale Board of Trustees, meaning write-ins were accepted during the election.
While Vida McEndollar and Michael Seth Rangel were clear winners with 13 and 12 votes, respectively, Scotsdale voters were divided on who should fill the third open seat. The third trustee was tied, with both Joyce Skaggs and Terisa Koehler receiving five votes.
Minnie Mouse, Goofy the Dog, “Moran” and two obscenities not suitable for print also received votes.
A total of 25 write-ins were tallied for the Scotsdale seats, with many seeming to be riffs on the same person’s name. For example, write-ins “Mr. Rangle” and “M. Rangle” could both be counted for winner Michael Seth Rangel, along with “V. McEndollar” for winner Vida McEndollar, or “J. Skaggs” for Joyce Skaggs.
County Clerk Jeannie Goff said it’s up to the current Scotsdale trustees to determine how the more ambiguous write-ins should be counted. If “J. Skaggs” is indeed counted for Joyce Skaggs, she would have a total of six votes and would win the third seat.
Scotsdale, a village of about 222 people with a total area of 0.74 square miles just south of House Springs, has a five-person board of trustees that serves two-year terms.
“In Scotsdale, no one filed, so we had to count everybody (all write-ins),” Goff said. “Basically, if they spelled names differently, like “Michael Seth Rangle” got 12, and then “Seth Rangle” got 4, it’s up to the village to consider whether it’s the same person or not, and then give that person more votes. It’s up to them to figure out who the winners are, if they are real people and if they want (the position).”
The Scotsdale board has not responded to a request for comment from the Leader as of Monday.
Only one person, Danielle Shannon, filed for one of two open seats on the Peaceful Village Board of Trustees. Shannon, an incumbent, was the clear winner with 19 votes, or 68 percent, of the overall vote.
However, the vote for the second trustee was more complicated, with Jack Fambrough, Jayla Lawrence and Nicholas Mcknight each receiving two votes, creating a three-way tie.
Peaceful Village, a village of about 95 people with a total area of 0.17 square miles near High Ridge, has a five-person board that serves two-year terms.
Shannon, who is also the village’s clerk, said Lawrence and Mcknight will both serve on the board. Both were previously appointed to fill vacancies on the board created when Daniel Ross III resigned from the seat in February and when Rachel Ross resigned earlier in the year.
“Jack Fambrough was contacted about sitting on the board, and he was not interested,” Shannon said.
Following the election, there is still one vacant position on the board, Shannon said.
Parkdale, a village of about 159 people located in northern Jefferson County, has a total area of 0.13 square miles. No candidates filed for the two Board of Trustees seats up for election, one in Ward 1 and the other in Ward 3.
In total, six people voted for write-ins in this election, with four people voting for Cynthia Bohley for Ward 1. Her opponent, Mark Terry, received one vote. Theresa White received one vote and won her seat for Ward 3. There were no other write-ins for that ward.
Write-in process
Goff said her office staff are no strangers to write-in candidates, usually seeing some at every election. Filing as a declared write-in candidate before the election would help resolve a lot of confusion post-election for these municipalities, Goff said.
To become a declared write-in, candidates would need to fill out a form ensuring they’re a Jefferson County resident and a taxpayer in good standing, among other requirements, by the second Friday before the election.
The write-in candidate’s name would not appear on the ballot, but their name would be on file with the clerk’s office, making it easier for office staff to hand-tally the votes, Goff said.
In most cases, only votes for declared write-ins and candidates who have filed would count on election day. Goff said her office often gets open write-ins for races where there is no legal standing.
“There was no one declared, or there wasn’t an opening comment where it said, ‘all write-ins would be counted’ on the ballot,” Goff said. “We always see it, even in the presidential (election), people will write in on the write-in line when there’s not even a declared write-in – they just write what they want, and I’m like, ‘Oh, good Lord.’”
Goff said voters sometimes also try to vote for two or more candidates where only one is accepted.
“They don’t realize that if they vote for a person at the top, but they write in a name at the bottom and color in the box, that means they just over-voted that race, and so nothing counts,” she said. “We don’t know which one they want.”
When each polling place closes on election night, Goff said the tabulator, or ballot-counting machine, spits out a results tape. The tape report tells election workers how many ballots the tabulator counted and how many votes each candidate received. If there are any declared or open write-ins, an additional report will be printed with a small image of the handwritten name.
“On election night, when we know there’s going to be a write-in that can be counted, we have a write-in team that comes in, and then they go through (the tape report) and hand-tally,” Goff said.
“If there’s a lot of presence in a presidential election, where different races do have a lot of declared write-ins, the tapes become so long because people are writing in, so every image has been scanned. We’ve had it where (the report) went across our office and back. The (write-in) team has to go through, unroll and tabulate, calculate and check them off, and then they have to write down the name if it’s an open write-in.”
In the 40 years she’s worked in the clerk’s office, Goff said the Scotsdale election was the first where the county had to censor foul language on the returns website. Goff announced last June she would not be seeking re-election when her term expires Dec. 31.
“I’ve never had obscenities – this is my first,” she said. “Of course, I think when they put down ‘Moran,’ I don’t think that’s what they were trying to spell, so we left it. But I don’t know what they thought they were getting here, instead of voting for somebody true.
“This is ridiculous; this is why I don’t like just open write-ins. I wish everyone had to become a declared write-in, and then you would avoid this problem.”
