Missoula City Council Ward 6 Recount Results in a Tie

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Following last week's canvass for the Nov. 7 general municipal election, Ward 6 City Council candidate Sandra Vasecka petitioned for a recount in her race. The Missoula County Elections Office held the recount at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, in the green warehouse at the Elections Center, 140 N. Russell St.

Sheriff Jeremiah Peterson and Commissioners Juanita Vero and Josh Slotnick served on the recount board. Areas were sectioned off for media and observers, as well as for representatives for each candidate.

The process consisted of opening the sealed ballots from election night, tallying and organizing those ballots to ensure all of them were included in the recount, and then sorting them by votes and hand-counting the results. Initial results separated Vasecka and challenger McCoy by five votes.

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On November 29, 2023, at 4:36 PM, the Missoula County recount board completed the recount process for the Ward 6 race, with results showing a tied vote between candidates Sandra Vasecka and Sean Patrick McCoy. Here is the documentation showing how the results from the recount compare to the results tabulated on election night.

Report and Certification of Recount

Per MCA 13-16-507, when a tied vote occurs in a municipal election, the governing body – in this case, the City Council – will appoint the candidate to fill the vacancy.

KGVO will reach out to Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman to get additional information.