Election results for the Homer City Council were certified on Monday, with three incumbent councilmembers sworn in for new terms. During the regular meeting, City Clerk Renee Krause said the Canvas Board convened on Friday, Oct. 10, to review, verify, and tally 196 absentee and special needs ballots from the Oct. 7 city election.
However, on Monday, during the final review and preparation for certification, the clerk’s office staff discovered an additional 222 absentee in-person, mail-in and fax email ballots that had been “properly received and secured in the clerk’s vault,” but were not included in the original Canvas Board count or process on Oct.10.
Upon discovering the oversight, Krause said the clerk’s office staff “immediately verified the ballots’ chain of custody and took prompt corrective action to ensure all valid ballots were included in the final Canvas totals.”
The Canvas Board reconvened Monday morning after the discovery of the 222 remaining ballots. Krause said the results after the remaining ballots were counted remained consistent with the preliminary totals reported and that no race was affected. The updated totals were recorded and verified by both the Canvas Board and the clerk.
A memorandum was submitted by Krause during the City Council meeting on Monday to document the incident and the corrective actions taken to “verify that the integrity of the election results had been maintained.”
Councilmembers Jason Davis, Bradley Parsons, and Storm P. Hansen were all sworn back into their seats on the Homer City Council. Parsons for a one-year term that will expire next October, and Davis and Hansen for three-year terms, set to expire in 2028. Parsons has served on Council since November of last year, Davis since 2022 and Hansen since 2019.
Chloe is a Homer-based, Alaska-raised journalist. She spent two years in Juneau working for KTOO Public Media, but got her start in journalism as a teenager volunteering for KBBI. She earned a BA in political science and history from UAA, an MPA in public administration from UAS, and is currently pursuing an MA in Arctic and Northern Studies at UAF.
News tips can be sent to cepleznac@gmail.com. Special interests include Kenai Peninsula politics, Kachemak Bay-related research, and environmental issues.
