Incumbents win in Libby election
Incumbent council members Allen Olsen and Peggy Williams were re-elected to the Libby City Council Tuesday, along with Brian Zimmerman, according to unofficial results released by the Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
In the only other contested election in the county, Rosalie Adauto and Kevin Jefferies were elected to the Eureka City Council, with incumbent member Gregory Thompson finishing third.
Joe Arts and Crystal Denton were elected in an uncontested race for council in Troy, as was Stormy Langston for Eureka City Judge and Dejon Raines for the unexpired two years remaining on Robin Benson’s term in Libby.
The unofficial results have Zimmerman as the highest vote recipient in the election, with 211. Williams had 195 and Olsen had 186.
Olsen and Zimmerman, along with candidates D.C. Orr, Arlen Magill and Gary Beach were at the courthouse when the results were posted.
“I think the voters of the city have spoken,” Zimmerman said. “They’re ready for positive change and I look forward to helping bring that change. I also want to thank the voters of the city for making this happen, without them none of this is possible.”
“I want to thank the people who voted for me and realize that I’m trying to do good things for the people of this city,” Olsen said. “I also want to thank Doug Roll and Ann German for making my name so well known in the city.”
Orr trailed Olsen by just one vote, with 185 total, which will likely trigger a recount once the commissioners sign the final canvass and make the results official.
Joe Miller finished behind Orr with 166, Gary Beach was next with 162. Arlen Magill had 152, Joseph Johnston finished with 134 and Libby Mayor Doug Roll brought up the rear with 53 votes.
Roll made several public statements prior to election day that his intent was not to win election to the council, but to campaign in order to prevent Orr, Olsen and Magill from being elected. The 53 votes cast in Roll’s favor could have provided a substantial boost to any of the candidates on the ballot, with just 52 votes between Johnston and Orr, who was at the top of those not winning election.
In addition to the 53 votes cast for Roll, 48 votes on 16 ballots were disqualified for overvoting, meaning the voter selected more than three candidates on the ballot. As election judges are unable to know which three were the voters’ top choices, they have no choice but to disqualify all votes on those ballots. There were also 68 undervotes recorded, meaning voters chose only one or two candidates, instead of three, on their ballots. The undervotes were counted in favor of the candidates selected.
Lincoln County assistant election administrator Leigh Riggleman said there is no statutory trigger for an automatic recount of the ballots. There is, however, a provision for a candidate who loses by less than one quarter of one percent of the total votes cast to ask for a recount. Any candidate inside that window has five days from the date the county commissioners sign the final canvass to request a recount. The request must be made in writing. The only candidate eligible for a recount request in this election is Libby City Council candidate D.C. Orr.
“I see no advantage to doing that,” Orr said. “If it was Peggy Williams I would have already asked for it, but Allen Olsen has demonstrated his commitment to Libby and its future.”
Riggleman praised the election judges and county staff who worked hard to monitor the polling station and tally the final votes.
“The election judges that train in Lincoln County are wonderful and we appreciate all of their time and effort,” Riggleman said. “The polling place judges are our front-line people in the elections and we appreciate every last one of them more than words can describe. The courthouse judges have become a solid team. They are a well-oiled machine and they make this happen. They enjoy each other and their work and they make it a pleasure to do this work.”