MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Board of Elections has released the official results of the March 4 elections. Although the outcomes of all of the races and issues were the same, there were increases in the number of votes cast due to the inclusion of provisional ballots in the official results.
One of the largest gainers in terms of number of votes was presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who gained 203 votes in the official count. Barack Obama also gained, with 161 additional votes, but the numbers were not enough to affect the final percentage in which Clinton won 55 percent of the vote to Obama’s 42 percent.
Presidential candidate John McCain gained 109 votes in the official count, to Mike Huckabee’s 97 gained. This nudged up McCain’s final winning percentage in the county from 52 to 53 percent of the vote, while Huckabee remained at 35 percent.
In local primary races for county commissioner hopefuls, Teresa Bemiller gained 84 votes through the official count, while Tom McLarnan gained 87 votes. However, these gains did not significantly affect the final percentages in which Bemiller had 41 percent of the vote to McLarnan’s 39 percent.
Serita Harris gained 129 votes in the official count, to Earl Justice’s gain of 148. Again though, these gains did not change the final results with Serita Harris winning by 51 percent to Justice’s 48 percent.
John Booth and Paul Harris, who were vying to run for county commissioner in November, also had triple-digit gains in the official count. Booth picked up 159 votes and Paul Harris gained 128 votes, but these gains, once again, did not significantly affect the final outcome, in which Booth defeated Paul Harris by 60 to 39 percent.
One issue that was narrowly defeated in the March 4 elections was the Milford Township road levy. The preliminary results showed that it was defeated by three votes, or 298 against and 295 for the measure. In the official recount, the narrow margin of three votes remained constant, with the final numbers of 300 against and 297 for the measure.
No automatic recounts were necessary in the election, as an automatic recount occurs if there is less than one-half of one percentage point difference in the voting results. According to Rita Yarman, director of the Knox County Board of Elections, candidates or issue committees can pay for recounts if they wish, but the costs vary according to the number of precincts involved in the race or issue.