Conservation district election outcome hangs on questions

Published 12:00 am Thursday, November 16, 2000

Forget the Florida recount in the presidential election.

Thursday, November 16, 2000

Forget the Florida recount in the presidential election.

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Something’s rotten in the Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District election.

Right now it’s up to Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer and the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources to decide who will represent Mower County SWCD District No. 2.

"We’ve got ourselves a real curious situation here," County Auditor Woody Vereide observed.

"I don’t know what we’re going to have to do," added Bev Nordby, Mower County SWCD district manager.

And you thought it was hard to decide whether George W. Bush or Al Gore is the next president of the United States?

Here’s what happened Nov. 7 in the SWCD board of supervisors elections.

Incumbent James Gebhardt won re-election with 15,246 votes. Gebhardt represents District No. 1, which includes Udolpho, Red Rock, Waltham, Sergeant and Dexter townships. He was unopposed.

Incumbent Robert Goetz won re-election with 14,445 votes. Goetz represents District No. 5, which includes Lansing and Austin townships. He also was unopposed.

However, the term of District No. 2’s SWCD supervisor, Allan Oehlke, also expires this year and Oehlke announced this fall he would not seek re-election.

When the deadline for filing arrived, no one had filed for the District No. 2 position, creating the need for a write-in candidate and that’s what occurred on Election Day.

The leading vote-getter in the SWCD District No. 2 election was John Bramwell with 39 write-in votes. The second leading vote-getter was Allan Oehlke with 18 votes. Rick Bremner received 15 votes.

Somewhere in the mix is Jeremi Glynn. More about that later.

And the winner is … who knows?

"While it appears Mr. Bramwell was the leading vote-getter, he does not live within the boundaries of SWCD District No. 1, which is a requirement to hold that office," Vereide said.

"Also, Mr. Oehlke may have the most votes if you count all the different variations of his name used on the write-in blanks on the ballots," Vereide said.

"But," he added, "there were 21 ballots with one last name and no first name on them.

"So, we’re just going to let the secretary of state and the state Board of Soil and Water Resources people sort this mess out," Vereide said.

Bramwell received 39 write-in votes for the District No. 1 SWCD office. There were no questions about them, according to Vereide.

Oehlke, who has been an SWCD supervisor for 18 years and was named Minnesota’s conservation farmer of the year, received 18 votes as "Al Oehlke," plus one for "Allan Oehlke" and one for "Al Ohlski."

Depending upon the state officials’ ruling, Oehlke either had 18, 19 or 20 votes.

Bremner of Austin received 15 unchallenged votes.

In the case of Glynn, Vereide can only shake his head at the results.

Twenty-one votes were cast for "Glynn," using the last name only. Eight others were cast for "Jeremi Glynn."

Because he was the highest vote-getter and lives in the SWCD district, Glynn could emerge the winner – or could he?

Depending upon which ballots are allowed, Oehlke beats Glynn or Glynn beats Oehlke.

Glynn said he told people he was running for the SWCD position after missing the filing deadline.

He also said he wants the job, a four-year term overseeing a wide variety of conservation practices designed to protect natural resources.

"I’m taking it seriously," he said.

Meanwhile, Bramwell and Oehlke, who were unavailable for comment, presumably are also taking it seriously and, like Glynn, waiting for a decision by state officials.

Is a recount possible? Stay tuned.

In any event, the SWCD situation isn’t the only post-presidential election glitch that has county auditor Vereide shaking his head in wonder.

"Did you know 202 people did not vote for president in Mower County? How do you explain something like that?"