With two recounts waiting in the wings, a canvassing board meeting was postponed Friday morning until Tuesday at around 1 p.m. to correct a data entry error.
With the error corrected, Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh and his office are preparing to hold recounts on Nov. 29 for the  the governors race between Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer, and in the District 27A House race between incumbent Robin Brown, DFL, and Republican challenger Rich Murray. Murray is the unofficial winner, but only by about 58 votes.
Groh said the error of about 23 votes was caught and corrected Friday when the absentee ballot count and other election documents did not match.
According to Groh, the error had nothing to do with faulty ballots, but occurred during the data entry phase.
Groh said measures put into place after the 2008 Al Franken-Norm Coleman Senate recount helped catch the error right away.
“It’s a lot more work the way we conduct it than in the past, but the example today of my canvas board (shows it) was more accurate,” Groh said.
Groh said the error was in part caused by the pressures of securing ballots when officials from the Republican party are present in his office.
Groh said he’s spent much of his time since the election securing ballots and dealing with attorneys and officials from both parties who are looking to assure Groh’s office is following standard election procedures.
While Groh expressed disappointment with the second recount in as many general elections, he said he was happy overall with the election process in Mower County.