![Pam Richardson late this morning, a short while before the official results were announced. (© FlaglerLive)](https://i0.wp.com/flaglerlive.com/wp-content/uploads/pam-richardson-1.jpg?resize=1000%2C665&ssl=1)
Last Updated: 12:30 p.m.
When it was all done, the result was unchanged from Tuesday, except for this: it’s now official. The often cheery, at times underestimated Pam Richardson has taken down the blustery and divisive Ed Danko, the one-term Palm Coast City Council member, in the most closely contested Flagler County Commission race in memory.
As the last ballots filled the bins of the hand recount of a race Richardson appeared to have won by 40 votes on election night–less than a quarter of a percent–what had been almost certain from the start of the recount became incontestable fact around noon today: Danko would not make up the difference, and will no longer be an elected official come December.
By the time the Canvassing Board had, over the last 24 hours, examined all questionable ballots, including ballots where voters had made puzzling marks instead of filling in the oval, ballots that had no votes, and provisional ballots that were turned in against the rules, Richardson still had almost the same lead, plus one.
Richardson started the day with 7,587 to Danko’s 7,549, a difference of 38 votes. Richardson picked up three votes, Danko picked up two, all from over-votes, for a final difference of 39 votes.
“Thank you. Yeah, I feel very congratulated,” Richardson told the Canvassing Board when its members congratulated her, nearing high noon. The tally would not be absolutely official until the hand recount of a Palm Coast City Council race between Ray Stevens and Dana Mark Stancel was completed. That was expected to take a few more hours to determine whether Stevens’s one or two-vote lead would hold. But it did not diminish the certainty of Richardson’s result.
“Of course, every candidate has a lot resting on this and all the things that go along with campaigning,” Richardson said. “There’s highs and lows, there is fear, anxiety, excitement, with the hope of coming through at the end with a positive response. And I’m thrilled that I got there.”
She continued: “I believe that the voters feel that I’ve been here for 20 years. I have been a community servant the entire time since my feet got planted in Flagler County. I have been on governmental boards, so I respect the Sunshine laws, I communicate with people and I open my considerations to what people have been saying to me all along the campaign trail.”
She was especially grateful for the supervisor’s staff: “The staff here is getting a big kiss,” she said on her way out.
On Friday, Kim Carney, who also won a County Commission seat on her second try, was in the room to support Richardson, along with County Commissioner Leann Pennington, who turned out late in the day. Pennington turned out again today and was there to congratulate her future colleague. It was Pennington who two years ago had dispatched Joe Mullins, another disruptive, belligerent phenomenon, from the County Commission after just one term, illustrating voter intolerance for the sort of obnoxious behavior that crosses lines of civility and mutual respect.
“Being civil is the most important thing any elected official can do,” Richardson said.
The atmosphere today was distinctly more formal and tense than it was on Friday in the Supervisor of Elections’ office, where the Canvassing Board resumed its meeting at 9 a.m., after recessing only eight hours earlier, at nearly 1 a.m. Today’s hand recount followed yesterday’s laborious machine recounts–plural, because a large chunk of votes had to be counted twice to overcome a glitch.
The hand recount was only of the so-called overvotes and undervotes–ballots where voters did not vote on the Richardson-Danko race, or voted for both, or made marks other than the required filling of the oval. As two elections staffers went through each undervote, most were blank and uncontested. But occasionally, there would be a ballot that requires board review. The counting would stop. There would be a huddle around the Canvassing Board. The ballot would be examined, and the board would make a determination.
The board members were Supervisor of Elections Kaiti Lenhart, County Judge Andrea Totten and County Commissioner Dave Sullivan. An overhead monitor reproduced the ballots passing under the Canvassing Board’s eyes, giving Richardson the right to object to determinations. Perry Mitrano, as head of the Republican Executive Committee, also had the right to raise objections.
An overhead monitor reproduced the ballots passing under the Canvassing Board’s eyes, giving Richardson the right to object to determinations. Perry Mitrano, as head of the Republican Executive Committee, also had the right to raise objections.
There were fewer than a dozen ballots the board had to examine to make a determination. Richardson accepted all determinations, filing only one objection, which became moot by the end of the count. Every determination hinged on whether the voter’s mark on the ballot was acceptable, according to the rules.
“A dot in an oval is not half an oval,” Lenhart said, noting that unless an oval is at least 50 percent filled, it’s not a vote. Other irregular marks could or could not be accepted, depending on a rule book’s guidance and, to some extent, the board’s discretion.
In total, just under 900 ballots were examined for undervotes or overvotes. Most were undervotes. One drew laughter: the voter had filled out every single oval for every single candidate in every single race. “Everybody wins,” the supervisor said. The ballot was not counted.
While some of the contested ballots drew briefly tense exchanges between Richardson and the board, especially in the earlier part of the count, most did not, and as the count progressed and Richardson realized that Danko had no mathematical way of beating her, she relaxed, laughed more, and accepted every board determination.
The two videos below illustrate how the process worked, and what the discussion over a contested ballot looked like.
The Canvassing Board’s count in the Palm Coast race is ongoing.
Jack Sprat says
Congratulations to Pam Richardson!
Ed Sarno says
Is Pam Richardson taking down Danko considered a victory??
Pam Richardson is a realtor.
That now makes 3 realtors on the Flagler Board of County Commissioners:
1. Pam Richardson
2. Andy Dance
3. Kim Carney
Plus realtor (s) on the planning and zoning committee, one of whom supported Kim Carney’s candidacy.
But yay! Yay! Yay! Everything is now going to be great going now Danko is gone.
Unfortunately, neither Danko nor Pam Richardson was going to be the better outcome. Either way, the outcome is sad for Flagler County and the future environment, future development and future traffic.
oldtimer says
common sense wins over volume
NJ says
Danko LOST because his wearing a Trump hat did NOT fool anyone. His voting record on the Palm Coast City Council is what DEFEATED him!
Darlene Shelley says
Congratulations to the winners! The people have spoken, we want representation that LISTENS to the residents, not developer cronies voting for urban sprawl and ignoring We the People!
My Two Cents says
Well done Flagler County/Palm Coast!
Celia Pugliese says
Congratulations Pam you (we) won!