Logan City Council election results within range for a recount
Updated on Dec. 7 at 3:15 p.m.
In an email from City Recorder Teresa Harris, it was shared that Katie Lee-Koven requested a recount of the November 21, 2023 General Election results. She was the only one to request a recount, as Joe Needham did not.
The recount is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 9:00 a.m., it will take approximately six hours to complete. It will take place at the Ballot Processing Center located at the Logan/Cache Airport, 2785 Airport Drive.
####
On Dec. 5 at 4:45 p.m., Logan City held a canvass at City Hall for the city council general election results. Election Day was Nov. 21, and officials have been counting ballots since then. The margin of votes between three candidates is close enough that they could request a recount.
The election was for three seats on the Logan City Council, serving a four-year term. There were six candidates in the general election: Joe Needham, Katie Lee-Koven, Mark Anderson, Erin Bennett, Jeannie Simmonds and Mike Johnson. All of the candidates except for Bennett were present at the canvass.
“It’s been a very educational process, and I really enjoyed getting to know the candidates,” Lee-Koven said.
City council chair Ernesto Lopez and vice chair Amy Anderson were also at the canvass, along with Logan City Mayor Holly Daines.
The canvass was led by city recorder Teresa Harris, who presented the election results as follows:
Mark Anderson: 3,449 (20.71%)
Mike Johnson: 2,892 (17.37%)
Jeannie F. Simmonds: 2,419 (14.53%)
Joe Needham: 2,400 (14.41%)
Katie Lee-Koven: 2,388 (14.34%)
Erin Bennett: 1,082 (6.50%)
With these votes, the winners of the three council seats are Anderson, Johnson and Simmonds.
“I feel humbled that I won with the margin that I did and that the citizens trust me,” Johnson said.
Anderson and Simmonds were both incumbents in this election, currently holding seats on the council.
However, the margin of votes between Simmonds, Needham and Lee-Koven are within the range that allows candidates to ask for a recount.
According to Utah code, if the difference between the number of votes of a winning candidate and a losing candidate is equal to or less than 0.25% of the total number of votes cast in the race, then the losing candidate may file a request for a recount.
The request for a recount must be written and be done within seven days of the canvass, so Needham or Lee-Koven would have until Tuesday, Dec. 12 to ask for a recount.
Cache County election specialist Dustin Hansen was at the canvass and explained that in a recount, all of the ballots that were previously counted will be run back through the machines and recounted.
Hansen said the only change that would happen in a recount would come from adjudication.
“Me and another person adjudicated a bunch of ballots,” Hansen said. “Those are the undervotes, those are unclear marks. But there’s a slim, slim chance that somebody disagrees, and we have a slight change because of that. That’s where your difference is going to be in a recount.”
If a recount is asked for, there will be another canvass held to review those results. If there is no recount requested, the current count will stand as the final results of the election.
There were 5,550 total ballots cast in the election. This constitutes 28.18% of registered voters in the area, which is an increase from the city’s last municipal elections.
“It’s a great feeling to know that there’s a lot of people who participated this year, and we had some excellent candidates running,” Anderson said. “It’s nice to see the numbers up.”