MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — Although all precincts are reporting results for Tuesday’s primary election, they aren’t official until canvassing is complete.
Davison County is planning to finish the review at its board of commissioner’s meeting Thursday morning. Scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the North Office building at 1420 Main Street, officials will certify that all votes sent in early, through mail, or done in-person on Election Day have been properly counted.
Canvassing boards sign off on ballot batches by ensuring containers have been properly handled and the chain of custody remained intact, meaning no one who is unauthorized had access to the forms being counted. The board will also adjudicate controversial ballots, ones that are not filled out correctly but the intent of the voter was obvious or examples where someone tried to change their choice. Lastly, canvassing boards run a random audit of returns to see if there are any potential problems with voters being given an incorrect ballot to fill out, either for a precinct or ward they are not a resident of.
When the canvas is finished, election officials then personally attest that the results are true and accurate.
