Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman Town Office staff and volunteer clerks worked quickly and efficiently to count and report results from Election Day.
Town Clerk Christina Kidney reported a significantly higher than normal turnout for this midterm election. Mapleton had almost 1,000 voters cast their ballots this year, while the number of residents voting in Castle Hill was 176 and in Chapman there were 228.
Election clerks Michelle York and Jaime Chandler work at the polls on Election Day. Clerks directed voters to appropriate tables for the election.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
Kidney and Deputy Town Clerk Frank Nunez reported a significant number of new voters coming in and registering on Election Day. The Castle Hill election clerks were pleased to see so many newly registered voters coming to the polls.
The Mapleton and Castle Hill polls were both located at the towns’ volunteer fire department headquarters next to the Town Office. Residents from both towns voted at the same building, but in separate areas. Chapman voters reported to the Chapman Ridge Runners Snowmobile and ATV Club House on Town Hall Road. The flow was steady throughout the day.
Probably the only excitement occurred when the volunteer fire department was called out late in the afternoon. Voting continued as the tanker and engine rolled out of the garage. Fortunately, there was not a significant fire incident. The trucks returned approximately 30 minutes later reporting only a smoke situation that was corrected.
Guthrey York casts the last ballot of Election Day 2022 in Mapleton. Bonnie Steeves, election clerk, makes sure that his ballot has properly entered the voting machine.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
Guthrey York was the last voter, casting his ballot at five minutes before closing. Just as she had done several hundred times that day, election clerk Bonnie Steeves instructed him on how to slide his ballot into the vote tabulation machine. At precisely 8 p.m., polls closed in preparation for the counting of ballots.
Mapleton statewide ballots are entered in the vote tabulation machine, while Castle Hill ballots and the SAD 1 school board ballots were placed in boxes for hand-counting. Volunteer clerks, Kidney and Election Warden Paula Shaw began hand-counting the Castle Hill and school board ballots. The ballots were counted multiple times and confirmed by all the counters.
Mapleton election staff begin the vote tabulation process. From left are clerks Jaime Chandler, Bonnie Steeves and Michele York, Election Warden Paula Shaw and Town Clerk Christina Kidney.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
Kidney and Shaw reviewed the vote tabulation machine operating instructions, then Shaw turned the key and started the tabulation process. Because of the high turnout and a certified write-in candidate for county treasurer, the process took considerable additional time, because the write-in vote required a hand-count of all ballots cast.
Late at night the results were finally certified and reported to the appropriate agencies and news organizations as well several candidate offices. The following week, ballot information was sent to the Secretary of State’s Office for the one ranked-choice decision, which was for the District 2 U.S. House of Representatives seat.
Election Clerks Sheena McHatten (left) and Grenda Stephenson count ballots while Elizabeth Butterfield (standing) observes as part of her training for future elections. She did not participate in this year’s election vote counting.
(Courtesy of Terry Sandusky)
At the end of the of the night, Kidney thanked the volunteers and election warden who helped the process go smoothly. She was particularly thankful that many volunteers were experienced in the election procedure.
Terry Sandusky is the Star-Herald correspondent for Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill and can be reached at 764-4916 or at starherald.Tsandusky@gmail.com.
