Franek and O’Keefe win primary

In the primary race for Le Sueur County Commissioner District 2, Maureen Franek of Montgomery and Danny O’Keefe of Le Center will most likely be on the November ballot.

The District, which includes Montgomery City, Montgomery Township, Sharon Township, Lexington Township, and Ottawa Township, is being held by Joe Connolly, who did not file.

Franek won her spot, garnering the most votes with 253 cast or 27.47 percent of the votes.

Second place went to O’Keefe with 161 votes. He was closely followed by Karen Richter who received 157 votes, four votes shy from O’Keefe, which could have triggered a recount.

According to the Minnesota Secretary of State website, most Minnesotans place their ballots in optical-scan machines that electronically tally the votes at the end of the night. Optical-scan machines are very accurate, and undergo pre-election testing and periodic audits. However, a small percentage of voters—usually about 1 in every 2,000 or 3,000, or approximately 1,000 out of 2 million voters—mark their ballot in a way that cannot be read by a machine.

On the county level, a recount in a race where the difference in votes cast is ten votes or less, which is this case, and the total number of votes cast for the office is 400 or fewer. That is not the case as 921 votes were cast in this election. 

However, Richter has told the Messenger that she will not seek a recount. 

Other candidates in the primary included Anna Holicky, fourth, 132 votes; Joe Schloesser, fifth, 94 votes; Brad Collins, sixth, 78 votes; and Dennis Lambrecht, seventh, 46 votes.