Keokuk, IA – When the polls closed Tuesday night, the unofficial results from the Lee County Auditor's Office showed that Tom Marion had received 50.4% of the votes cast.
That meant he had avoided a run-off election and secured a second term in office.
It now looks like a run-off election between Marion and At-Large Alderman Dan Winn will take place on Tuesday, December 6.
Auditor Anne Pedersen says that's because some provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots have now been added to the totals.
She says there was also a discrepancy between the totals listed on the county website, Tuesday night, and the official voting log.
"We sat down and started going through our actual tapes that come off of the machines," says Pedersen, "and we found a 20 vote discrepancy between what was reported and what the machines reflect. It was 20 additional votes for Mardis."
Pedersen says the additional votes for Carol Mardis came from Keokuk's 6th ward.
The new totals give Marion 49.95% of the vote.
Absentee ballots postmarked November 7th or earlier can still be counted if they arrive in the auditor's office before the votes are canvassed at 3:00 Thursday afternoon.
Once the votes are canvassed, the results are official.
The canvassing will take place at the north Lee County office building in Fort Madison. The meeting is open to the public.
Updated Figures - 4:11 P.M. on Wed. Nov 9
Tom Marion - 1067 votes - 49.95%
Dan Winn - 600 votes - 28.09%
Carol Mardis - 417 votes - 19.52%
Jeff Page - 49 votes - 2.29%
Scattering - 3 votes - 0.001%