WISCONSIN RAPIDS – An April 17 recount of over 500 votes cast in Wisconsin Rapids District 4 found incumbent Jeff Penzkover to be the certified winner of the election for alderperson.
The certified number of votes for each candidate was found to be 237 for incumbent Jeff Penzkover and 236 for challenger Tom Rayome, matching the unofficial results of the April 7 election, Wisconsin Rapids City Clerk Jennifer Gossick told a Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune reporter.
Wisconsin Rapids’ three-member Board of Canvassers, consisting of Gossick and two citizen members, along with eight tabulators, consisting of people who worked as poll workers during the election, conducted the recount April 17. The recount began at 9 a.m. and concluded shortly after noon in the Council Chambers located in the Wisconsin Rapids City Hall at 444 W. Grand Ave., Gossick said.
The Board of Canvassers decided to conduct the recount by hand count instead of using electronic tabulators to confirm the results, Gossick said.
Rayome requested the recount via petition on April 15 and will not pay a fee for the effort due to the margin of difference of votes received by each candidate being less than 10 votes in an election that received less than 4,000 votes, according to state statute.
Rayome stated a belief that a “mistake” was made in the counting of the ballots in the April 7 election that justified the recount, according to the April 15 petition.
Wisconsin Rapids alderpersons serve two-year terms on the eight-member Common Council. Alderpersons attended the first meeting of the new Common Council and took their oaths of office April 21 in the Council Chambers at Wisconsin Rapids City Hall.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK – Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids District 4 recount confirms incumbent as winner
Reporting by Erik Pfantz, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune / Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
