Sanitation 7 decision still on hold

The announcement of the winner for an open seat on the Sanitary District 7 board of commissioners was expected on Wednesday, after 184 paper ballots were counted. All three candidates — Tom Lanning, Mike Franzini and Steve Edmondson — appeared at a meeting in the district office at noon on Wednesday, but there was no announcement and no counting of paper ballots.

An "irregularity in voting" delayed the process, according to Jerome Cline, a lawyer for the district. Cline said that there was a discrepancy in the number of votes cast and the number of people who signed in to vote on June 19, the day of the election. The error was discovered Tuesday night and the district plans to speak to counsel before moving forward, Cline said.

The paper ballots have been put on hold.

According to the two voting machines used by the district, Lanning led Franzini by 98 votes, 837-739, with Edmondson in third place, as polls at the Columbia Firehouse closed on June 19. There were 184 paper ballots, which were not counted on the night of the election but instead stored at the district office, to be counted on June 25.