Could 3 provisional ballots swing Lake Wales election? Canvassing board will meet Thursday
The outcome of a Lake Wales City Commission race will hinge upon the decisions of a board consisting of three other commissioners.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show first-term incumbent Daniel Williams with a one-vote lead over challenger Brandon Alvarado in the Seat 2 race. Williams received 939 votes to 938 for Alvarado, the Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office reported. A third candidate, Crystal Higbee, tallied 347 votes.
The outcome could change, though, because three voters cast provisional ballots, the Elections Office said. Those are ballots that are collected but not initially counted because of questions about the voter’s eligibility.
The Lake Wales Canvassing Board will meet Thursday at 5 p.m. to consider whether to accept the three provisional ballots, City Clerk Jennifer Nanek said. Under city rules, the board consists of the City Commission members not involved in current elections: Mayor Jack Hilligoss and Commissioners Robin Gibson and Keith Thompson.
Danny Krueger, the other commissioner, lost his bid for reelection to Carol Gillespie. She will take office May 7.
If commissioners are unavailable, the board's alternates are three former commissioners: Al Goldstein, Eugene Fultz and Terrye Howell.
The Supervisor of Elections Office will provide all relevant information about the provisional ballots to the Lake Wales Canvassing Board, spokesperson Rachel Harris said. The details include whether the voter’s signature on the provisional ballot matches one on record with the office and whether the voter registered in time for this election.
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A voter might be required to cast a provisional ballot if they neglect to bring photo identification to the polling location, Harris said.
Under state law, a recount automatically occurs if the margin of victory in an election is 0.5% or less. The current one-vote difference in the Seat 2 race equates to 0.4%, Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards said.
Lake Wales does not require the winner in races with more than two candidates to gain a majority of votes cast. That means there will be no runoff election in the Seat 2 race, even though neither Williams nor Alvarado will exceed 50%.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales board meets Thursday to consider 3 provisional votes
