City Councilor Theresa Stehly has until 5 PM on Tuesday to file her re-count intentions. As far as I know she intends to do that. After that Jensen has 3 days to pick a representative (likely a lawyer) in which I’m not even sure if he has one yet, because who I thought it might be may have backed out.

The city clerk also has 3 days to pick an independent person for review (likely an outside attorney). Some names in that ballpark have been thrown around, but nothing definitive. One of the names I heard is a real rat, and I am being kind. Either way, Stehly and Jensen must both agree on the independent person, so that process could take a few days.

After that I suspect some silly motions in court to stop the recount before it starts on a technicality. I’m not sure if that would hold up in court since a recount can be called within a 2% margin and I believe the margin in this race was around .05%. There will also be a legal battle about what votes can be reviewed and looked at, like undervotes and spoiled ballots. There is also the possibility of absentee ballots that arrived on Tuesday before 7 PM that didn’t get opened and counted (I think these ballots are the lynchpin because Stehly won the absentee ballot part of the race).

Once the logistics of what votes can be counted then the counting can start, which I don’t think will last more than 2-3 days. But who knows at this point. I suspect the process all together could take 2-3 weeks. Stehly remains on the council until the process is finished and an installation ceremony is scheduled, which I suspect will be almost immediate, especially if Jensen wins.

While some don’t have much confidence Stehly can turn the tide, I actually am hopeful she can and been having a weird feeling lately that she will. I’ve never felt this confident about an election before. Of course all the stars will have to align, and we know that isn’t possible because of the hatred towards Stehly and her policy ideas. If the re-count happens, this will be more explosive than the fireworks at Mt. Rushmore and a historic moment in city politics. If anything, it will be a fun one to watch.

8 Thoughts on “The Sioux Falls City Election Re-Count fireworks could start next week

  1. "Very Stable Genius" on June 14, 2020 at 7:48 pm said:

    With 1600 overs and unders and a 110 difference, this is anyone’s victory. As long as the SCOTUS doesn’t get involved, Theresa can still win this.

    ( and Woodstock adds: “Yah, too bad they didn’t use a butterfly ballot, where Mr. Z could have taken votes from Alex!”…. )

  2. John on June 15, 2020 at 8:22 am said:

    Is there a set date the term ends?

  3. "Very Stable Genius" on June 15, 2020 at 11:43 am said:

    John,

    That’s a good question. I understand why the election was postponed, but can you extend a term?

    Personally, I don’t think Pat, Theresa, Greg, nor Marshall are members of the council after May 15th and until they are sworn-in; and should not be voting.

    ( and Woodstock adds: “Yah, but this is the Age of Trump”….. “Now days anything goes”… “We even have the president of the state senate (LtG) serving as a member of the executive branch as the Ag secretary”… #BananaRepublic )

  4. D@ily Spin on June 15, 2020 at 5:41 pm said:

    Stehly has asked for a recount as of today. She’s well represented legally. Good luck Theresa. We need you. You’re the people’s voice on the council.

  5. The Guy From Guernsey on June 15, 2020 at 7:43 pm said:

    I like the choices which Councilor Stehly has made to this point.
    To request a recount. No brainer.
    The choice of legal representation from Randy Seiler. “The enemy of your enemy is your friend.”
    To decline Greco’s choice of Jack Marsh as a third party. What the hell does Jack Marsh know about election law? This was just an attempt by City Hall to extend Mr Marsh’s presence as an unbiased (which he is not) former journalist to assign faux legitimacy to a snow job.
    You know your dog is hunting on the correct trail when you get the establishment crony capitalist RINOs all stirred up and in a lather, even those from outside of the city limits of Sioux Falls.

  6. Bruce on June 15, 2020 at 8:16 pm said:

    Terms are automatically extended until successor is sworn in. The postponement of the installation of the three in order to wait for recount results is questionable.

  7. D@ily Spin on June 15, 2020 at 8:47 pm said:

    Spats such as this could become an indirect method for bringing council representation back from developer compensated favoritism to benefitting citizens. They should realize supporting city government is a dead end. There’s so much debt service on big project failures. There’s no money and bond rating for another useless debacle. The few Kings can spend away. It filters down to some of us and depletes their worth. Their ego is their worst enemy.

  8. "Very Stable Genius" on June 16, 2020 at 2:58 pm said:

    The charter automatically extents it?

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