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As local elections near this year, Bell County is once again searching for a new elections administrator.
At their weekly meeting Tuesday, Commissioners unanimously approved an agreement with SGR Executive Recruitment Services to search for a new elections administrator for the county. The agreement comes as the current administrator Matthew Dutton told officials of his wish to return to his former job as the assistant administrator.
Commissioners set an amount not to exceed $24,900 for the organizationâs services.
County Judge David Blackburn said that the Bell County Elections Commission, which chooses the elections administrator, decided to go with a professional company for the search this time. He said the use of this firm is different from the normal procedure of posting the job that the county normally does.
In the three weeks since the municipal elections ended, questions of election impropriety have lingered in Killeen. Dozens of registered voters on four city streets were put in the wrong districts on the voter rolls, at least seven cast their ballot in the wrong district, and District 4 â the race where most of the issues occurred â ended in a tie.
At Tuesdayâs Killeen City Council meeting City Attorney Traci Briggs delivered a presentation unveiling the cityâs findings into what went wrong in the May 1 elections. It was supposed to provide clarity. It was supposed to provide closure.
Instead, it raised new questions, including how the rolls didnât match the number of votes cast in Precinct 404 in District 4 and who determined the limited scope of questions.
Unofficial Election Night results show candidate Michael Boyd leading incumbent Steve Harris by two votes in Killeen City Council District 4. But this race is far from over. Questions of election impropriety with issues dating back to 2011 are leading to a recount and possible council investigation.
On Monday the ballot board will meet at 9 a.m. at Killeen City Hall to count provisional ballots. Those votes will be added to the total and passed on to the canvassing board, which is scheduled to meet and officially canvass the election at Tuesdayâs city council meeting.
The board, made up of Councilmembers Ken Wilkerson and Rick Williams, legally must canvass the election by Wednesday.
When Killeen resident Linda Knotts went to vote in the City Council election on April 20, she entered the polling location expecting to get a District 4 ballot. A poll worker looked up her address and handed her a District 3 ballot instead.
Knotts protested, showing the poll worker a map that showed her address in District 4. According to Knotts, the poll worker told her she was in a gray area and she could vote in either District 3 or 4. Knotts took the District 4 ballot and cast her vote, but the experience was unsettling.
Knotts said she called Killeen City Secretary Lucy Aldrich, who is the cityâs election administrator, the next day and advised her of the issues. According to Knotts, Aldrich said she would go to the Bell County elections administrator and get the issue resolved.