Recount shows Jacobson up by two votes in Brooklyn Park mayoral election

Lisa Jacobson appears to have become the mayor of Brooklyn Park after a recount Thursday confirmed her razor-thin victory in last week's special election.

Jacobson picked up an extra vote during proceedings at the Brooklyn Park Activity Center to win by two votes as a recount team spent nearly six hours sorting and counting each ballot cast in the Aug. 10 election.

But the result is not final yet. Five ballots challenged by Winston's team and two by Jacobson's team will be presented to the City Council on Monday, which will make a final determination on the ballots in question and certify the results.

The winner will fill out the remaining term of Jeff Lunde, who was elected to the Hennepin County Board in November.

"Recounts don't normally change the results," said City Clerk Devon Montero. "But it does happen."

It easily could have after Jacobson earned 3,415 votes to rival Hollies Winston's 3,414, according to results reported on election night. The close margin prompted Winston to ask for Thursday's recount, which doubled Jacobson's margin of victory after one ballot in question was deemed a vote for her.

Scores of observers watched the team of six election judges and city staff from across the table as counters placed ballots from each of the city's 24 precincts separated into piles for each candidate, then meticulously counted and tallied each one.

"I was nervous," said Kristen Stacey, a city staffer drafted to count the ballots. "Then I got into a rhythm. I wanted to be a part of it."

The day lacked any drama and the process seemed to go smoothly, said Jim Bull of Roseville, a recount observer representing the Republican Party. He volunteered to make sure each vote was counted properly after he served as an election judge and was on a recount team in St. Paul in last November's general election when some claimed there had been election fraud.

"People are interested in elections and election fairness," he said. "It's a pretty simple process."

It was definitely time consuming. Ballots that had been placed in sealed boxes and securely stored at the city's water treatment facility arrived in the activity center's Gardenview Room just before 9 a.m. Bull and other observers took turns eyeballing the count. When not sitting at the table, observers passed the time reading library books, checking their phones and chatting, but stopping conversations as totals from each precinct were announced.

Just like in the special election, the totals remained tight all day. Anticipation was high at 2:30 p.m., when counters began poring through ballots in the last uncounted box.

Perhaps the most controversial decision surrounded an overvote, which Montero awarded to Jacobson. An overvote can occur when a machine cannot determine whom a voter selected and counts no votes for either candidate, explained Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, who was on hand.

Carter Erickson, a Brooklyn Park resident who voted in the election, volunteered to help with the count. He served as an election judge in November, but this "could be more important than on Election Day," he said before the proceedings began. "It was an interesting opportunity."

The recount was the first in Brooklyn Park since 2012 when one was needed to determine a City Council race in the city's Western District.

Neither Jacobson nor Winston was on hand for Thursday's count.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768