By Sara Quam
The Luverne City Council primary recount netted the same results as the initial tabulation, but with slightly altered figures.
Alex Frick, who received the least votes initially, requested the recount. He still got the low number but lost one more vote due to a "defective ballot."
A defective ballot is one that has distinguishing markings that make it invalid for anonymity reasons.
This particular ballot looked like it carried a scribble that could be interpreted as initials. Even if the mark is just a scribble, it's still disqualified from the count. The particular ballot was included during the automated count the evening of the primaries because the machine doesn't detect marks outside the designated ovals.
The final primary results from Tuesday's recount are: David Hauge, 116, David Cook, 114, and Alex Frick, 112. Hauge and Cook are the choices for south ward alderman in the November election, with Frick eliminated by the primary vote.
Eight ballots were left blank and 11 weren't counted because they carried votes for two candidates. County Auditor Margaret Cook said ballots are often disqualified from the count as a result of voters not following instructions.
Improper voting impacted totals for state offices more than the city. By voting in two or more political parties, many voters disqualified their choices from the partisan ballot - their votes were counted on the city, non-partisan ballot, however. Although the state (partisan) and city ballots are on the same piece of paper, they are considered separate.
The primaries drew about 16 percent of registered voters, which is typical for the county and the rest of the state in general. A general election usually gets 60 percent of Rock County voters to the polls, which is higher than the state average.