Eighteen ballots challenged in Black Hawk election

Lynn Volkens

04/10/2008 - A precedent was set in Black Hawk politics when City Clerk Jeanie Magno, conducted the first, ever, municipal ballot challenge hearing on April 4^th. The hearing resulted when poll watchers challenged 18 ballots during the April 1 election for Mayor and City Council. Magno, as the City’s Election Official, presided over the hearing which began at 8:30 a.m. and culminated shortly after 2:00 p.m.

  Debra Krause, poll watcher for Council candidate, Terence Ballowe, challenged the ballots of Lynnette Hailey, David Spellman and Matt Barnett on grounds the three were not residents of Black Hawk. Questionable residency was also her reason for challenging the ballot of Jordan Baker, now serving with the Air Force in Texas. Robert Smith, poll watcher for Council candidate John Boyer, also challenged Baker’s ballot and that of Stephen Armbright, also in the Air Force, in Texas. Smith’s final ballot challenge was Karen Anderson, who is recovering in a nursing home in the metro area.

  Smith’s own ballot was challenged by Medill Barnes, poll watcher for Alderman Tom Kerr, and Don Doles, poll watcher for Alderman Dick Cottrell. Additionally, Barnes and Doles challenged the ballots of Mary Crawford, Scott Crawford, Miram Carroll and Tom Feeney. Barnes, on his own, challenged the ballots of Suzanne Crawshaw, Kimberly Boyer Wolfe and Jeffrey Walters. With the exception of Crawshaw, all of the challenges were based on a question of residency. Crawshaw’s U.S. citizenship was questioned.

  Rob Dutcher, poll watcher for mayoral candidate, Tom Tyslan, challenged the ballots of Melissa Greiner, Thomas Greiner and Spencer Greiner based on the residency question. Election judge Lynn Venters, questioned the residency of Debbie Klingbeil, and challenged her ballot.

  A voter’s “primary permanent domicile” determines whether or not a person is a resident of the City of Black Hawk, and entitled to vote in the municipal elections. It fell to Magno to review evidence such as the address used by the voter for identification, motor vehicle registration, driver’s license, tax returns and regular mail. Other factors she considers include whether the voter maintains a home or domicile elsewhere, whether the voter was absent from Black Hawk for any of the 30 days immediately preceding the election, whether the voter, while absent had the intent to return to the City, whether the voter regards Black Hawk as his or her home, whether the voter spends or will spend the majority of the year at the Black Hawk residence, and any other activities of the voter that, in the City Clerk’s determination, tend to establish primary permanent domicile. Per the City’s recently approved Council Bill 7, which establishes the challenge procedure, a challenged ballot may not be opened prior to the challenge hearing, and therefore can’t be counted. If the challenger does not personally appear at the hearing, the challenge is summarily dismissed, the ballot is opened and the vote counted. As Dutcher did not appear, his challenges (the three Greiner ballots) became moot and these votes were counted. Krause telephoned Magno, late on the afternoon of April 3^rd, and withdrew her challenges of Hailey, Spellman and Barnett, thus allowing their votes to be counted. Magno said no reason was given for Krause’s reversal. As for the rest, Magno weighed the evidence presented by the challengers and upheld only those for the ballots of the Crawfords, Crawshaw and Walter. With these ballots disallowed, the remaining were opened and counted. No election results from April 1^st were overturned. Spellman was elected Mayor. Tom Kerr, Paul Bennett and Greg Moates were elected to the Council.