No write-in candidates qualify for commission race

Powell City Councilman Don Hillman may very well have an opponent in the race for mayor of Powell.

Four individuals received the three or more write-in votes needed to qualify for the Nov. 6 general election ballot as a mayoral candidate, Park County Clerk Jerri Torczon said Thursday morning. However, the man with the most write-ins has no interest in running.

The elections office said Friday that it was current Powell Mayor Scott Mangold who received six votes -- tops among the names written in. Mangold told the Tribune on Friday, as he did earlier this year, that he has no interest in running for a third term. That would leave the one possible general election ballot position to three other yet-to-be-identified people who each received three write-in votes. As soon as the elections office confirms Mangold does not intend to run (they're notifying him by letter), they'll then randomly choose the name of one of the people with three votes. That person will then be asked if they want to run. If that person also declines, another name would be randomly drawn.

"There will be one write-in (from the primary) on the ballot," Torczon predicted Thursday. However, it is possible that the three others will also decline to run for mayor or that not all are eligible to run.

Hillman was the only candidate on the Tuesday's primary ballot. He received 972 votes.

On Thursday, Torczon would not release the names of the individuals written in. She said she needed to wait until the Primary Election Canvassing Board meets Friday and certifies the election results.

"That's the way I read the statute," Torczon said.

The canvassing board began meeting at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Tribune previously reported, incorrectly, that 25 write-in votes for mayor were needed to make the general election ballot. While there is a 25 vote threshold for state and county races, an individual needs just three write-ins for municipal races, the Tribune learned Thursday.

There were 63 write-in votes for Park County Commission on the Democratic side on Tuesday, but no Democrat received the 25 votes needed to make the general election ballot, Torczon said. That means that unless a independent candidate turns in a petition with signatures by Monday, Republicans Lee Livingston and Bucky Hall will be the only commission candidates on the Nov. 6 ballot. It also means there are no Democrats running for any local partisan positions.

Editor's note: This version corrects some of the process to break a write-in tie.