Absentee Ballots Don’t Change Winner

The large number of absentee and last-minute mail-in ballots that were counted Tuesday in Ferry County failed to reverse the defeat of Republic Mayor Liz Brown.

Challenger William “Skeeter” Burnett, manager of The Other Place tavern, outpolled appliance store owner Brown 221-132.

Absentee ballots won’t be counted until next Tuesday in Stevens County, but the seven issued in Springdale won’t affect a confused Town Council race in which Corky Peterson threw his support to write-in candidate Dan Lantis, but won anyway.

Lantis so far has only six votes to Peterson’s 68. Marshal Jerry Taylor and Evelyn Harms, who weren’t running, each got one write-in vote.

Peterson, who resigned in August out of frustration about bickering on the council, resumed his position at Monday’s council meeting. Also Monday, the council appointed Stephen Gluth to fill the position from which Lonnie Anderson resigned on Oct. 9.

, DataTimes