Vote machine company holds off on machine inspection pending lawsuit outcome

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Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke told the county commissioners Tuesday that Election Systems & Software has postponed inspection of the county’s M650 ballot counting machine, pending the outcome of a civil suit by former school board candidate Craig Guymon.

Guymon filed a complaint in district court Friday contesting the results of the June 5 school board election. Guymon has stated that the ballot counts by the M650 were inconsistent.

Guymon, who finished third in a four-way race for two seats, has said he doesn’t expect to win the election; he just wants an accurate vote count.

He is asking the court for a hand recount of ballots or a new election.

“(ES&S) was going to come today and look at the machine’s log, but they put that all on hold,” Kiepke said. “They said they won’t touch anything until after the lawsuit is finalized.”

There is no estimate on how long that might take, Kiepke said.

Following state law, board members-elect Neil Putnam and Theresa Kriese were named as defendants in Guymon’s vote challenge.

They have 10 business days to respond.

The M650 ballot counting machine currently sits in the middle of the auditor’s office. Kiepke said she has not been asked to secure the machine. She received no such directive from the commissioners on Tuesday.

Mayoral candidate Jerry Toomey congratulated Mayor-elect Ken Tracy at the Mitchell City Council meeting Monday night.

Toomey, who finished second in the six-candidate field, told The Daily Republic he will not contest the election results.

He said hiring a lawyer would cost “thousands” and he does not intend to invest that money.

The Daily Republic’s Tom Lawrence contributed to this report.

Tags: election 2012, news, updates, local, davison, recount, courts, lawsuit