One Vote Decides Emerson Council Seat

One vote decided the outcome of an Emerson city council race last week.

In a special election conducted Tuesday, April 5, Karen Morris defeated Phillip Kudron, 85-84, for a seat on the Emerson council. Herbert Petereit, Sr., won the election for mayor, 92-76, over David Gallery, Jr .

Uncertainty surrounded the outcome of the election when the Mills County Auditor’s Office revealed that one absentee ballot was still outstanding at the conclusion of the day Tuesday.

Deputy election commissioner Lori Ingoldsby said the ballot arrived at the auditor’s office on Thursday (the last day it could be accepted), but because the envelope outside the affidavit was not signed, the ballot was voided and was not opened.

Ingoldsby said the ballots were counted by hand and she doesn’t expect a recount to occur. Members of the Mills County Board of Supervisors were expected to canvass the election results at their regular meeting Tuesday morning.

The special election was needed when Emerson mayor Max Austin resigned from his position in March after serving for just two months.
Austin was serving on the city council when he was elected mayor last November. His vacated council seat was the one claimed by Morris.