MISSOULA — Nearly three weeks have passed since the Missoula municipal elections, but until Thursday, the results for Ward 6 were still up in the air.
Sandra Vasecka has been deemed the newest city councilwoman for Ward 6, receiving 1,239 votes to Nick Shontz's 1,227 votes. Shontz had requested a recount after falling to opponent Vasecka by an original 12 votes.
County Commissioners Dave Strohmaier and Josh Slotnick alongside elected official Shirley Faust recounted each ballot by hand today, bringing us these official results.
Candidate Nick Shontz secured a $2,000 bond for the cost of that recount, which was a tedious process according to Missoula County Elections Supervisor Dayna Causby.
“We sort the ballots per candidate in groups of 25, then we go through and count those groups of 25 and make sure all the ballots are there," Causby explained. "Then the next step is we take each group of 25 and actually tally them-physically look at them and tally them on a separate piece of paper.”
Vasecka has been touted as the more conservative candidate to progressive Shontz.
