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Charles "Chuck" Sauders will represent District 4 on the Warsaw School Board, after Tuesday's special election.
The special election was only for voters in Warsaw Precinct 1, Ward 2. Tuesday, 96 people voted in the special election, compared to 288 ballots that were counted last November in the same precinct and ward, according to Kosciusko County Clerk Sharon Christner.
In yesterday's election, Christner said, Sauders received 15 votes and Watkins had 81. However, when added to November's totals of 658 for Sauders and 586 for Watkins, the final vote count for both candidates was Sauders 673, Watkins 667.
In the November election, Sauders' final vote count was 767 to Watkins' 762 votes.
However, the special election was ordered by Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed in response to a petition filed by Watkins contesting the results.
Watkins asked for the special election because in the November election, one of four voting booths for Precinct 1, Ward 2, did not contain the page with the school board candidates. By the time the error was discovered, 63 people had already voted in that precinct. Watkins lost the election in November by five votes, and filed suit Nov. 8, saying that because of the error, it was impossible to determine the actual vote count.
The special election was scheduled for Tuesday because Indiana law specifies that the special election be held on the ninth Tuesday following the judge's order, which was Dec. 8.
Sauders will take his school board seat at the board's Feb. 21 meeting. Mark Minatel, who previously represented the district and did not run for re-election, agreed to continue on the board for the January meeting until the district winner had been decided in the special election.
According to Christner, the cost to the county of the special election was $1,465.
