151st District candidate could ask for recount

Republican candidates for the Missouri House of Representatives 151st District seat weren't counting on arguments following the election. But with only eight votes giving Dennis Fowler the win Tuesday, his opponent, Bob Thrower, is asking some questions.

Missouri law states that any contestant in a primary or other election who was defeated by less than 1 percent has the right to a recount of the votes.

Fowler was trailing Thrower by 87 votes in Stoddard County on Tuesday as returns came in. Totals from Scott County then turned the race for Fowler for a vote total of 1,921-1,913. The 151st District covers Stoddard County and a small section of Scott County, including a section of Chaffee.

Thrower now believes Chaffee may be where something went wrong at the polls, although he said he has not yet decided whether to take any action.

Scott County Clerk Rita Milam said she spoke with Thrower and Fowler about a possible issue in the Chaffee precinct Wednesday, although she does not believe election results there are inaccurate.

Milam said she received a call shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday from the precinct, notifying her that a voter received a ballot for choosing a Republican candidate in the 148th District, instead of the one they should have been given for the 151st District. That precinct is split by the two districts. Milam said she sent a member of her staff to correct the problem and the voter received the correct ballot. No other calls notified her office of further issues, she said, so she assumes now there were none.

"We never heard another thing all day long, not from the precinct, not from a voter, not from anyone," Milam said.

Milam disagrees with Thrower that election judges may have made the mistake more than once, she said.

"Mr. Thrower feels that my election judges messed up and that he should have won," she said. "But I can't prove whether they did or didn't. No one called."

Milam will certify the current results this week with the Missouri secretary of state's office. Results of Tuesday's election must be certified no later than Aug. 28.

Thrower received 199 votes in Scott County's nine precincts that include the 151st District; Fowler received 294.

On Wednesday, Thrower said he is in contact with the secretary of state's office over "voting irregularities."

The process for dealing with alleged election irregularities is to file contest with a circuit court, according to the secretary of state's office.

The outcome of another race -- for 1st District commissioner in Stoddard County -- may also be in question. Danny Talkington beat Steve Jordan by a 725-724 vote in that election. Jordan said Wednesday he has not yet decided whether to contest the results.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

Benton, MO

Chaffee, MO

Bloomfield, MO