Bjerke takes the ticket - again

The Coeur d'Alene School District Zone 4 ballot recount results are in, and the new count looks like the old count.

Exactly.

Former Zone 4 candidate Lindsey Swingrover requested a recount of 15 precincts on Nov. 23 after losing the race by 27 votes. The process cost her $1,500 — or $100 per precinct. 

Still, Swingrover said last week that she wasn't expecting the results would produce race-changing findings. 

"Recounts almost never change the results," she said. "I don't expect it to change very much, but I expect there will be some amount of variation. It's more about wanting to make sure the numbers were right." 

By final count on Thursday, future Zone 4 trustee Lesli Bjerke had confirmed her school board seat again with 2,105 — exactly 27 more than Swingrover's 2,078. 

"The precinct votes were correct as presented in the official canvas," Clerk Jim Brannon said Friday.

Since taking office in 2013, Brannon said the elections office has implemented several measures to "make certain that every vote is legal and not nullified by an illegal vote." 

Chief Deputy Clerk Jennifer Locke said the department consulted with the Idaho Secretary of State's Office, Ada and Bonner County clerks for guidance on recount procedures. An Idaho Secretary of State official and Swingrover's representative were also present during the recount. 

"When you go through this, you always learn something new, and that's always a good thing, in my opinion," Locke said. "There was a lot of team spirit in coming together, even across (county) divisions." 

By statute, 5% (213) of the ballots cast for Coeur d'Alene School Board Zone 4 trustee were tallied by hand and run through the county's electronic tabulating system. All counts were "correct," Brannon said, from early to absentee and Election Day ballots. 

"I'm glad it was right, but I'm not surprised," he said. "Jennifer did amazing work preparing for the recount. I give her all the credit."

Bjerke echoed Brannon's statement and said she was "impressed by how thorough the process was." She also commended the election office team for their hard work. 

"I had every confidence that the results from the recount would be the same as election night," Bjerke told The Press on Friday. 

Brannon pointed out that the procedure "wasn't free for the taxpayers" as over a dozen county officials and employees oversaw the recount on Thursday. He and Locke calculated that the overall wages paid to county personnel during the recount were about $509 per hour — equaling a little less than $4,600. 

"The $1,500 didn't come close to the overhead cost, but that's what the statute says," Brannon said. 

Swingrover did not respond to a request for comment from The Press on Friday.