Warsame's victory withstands recount
After Minneapolis elections officials hand counted about half of the ballots cast in the 6th Ward, the man who called for the recount withdrew his challenge.
Mohamud Noor asked for the recount after he lost the Nov. 7 election by 239 votes to incumbent council member Abdi Warsame. The Minneapolis Canvassing Board certified the election night results earlier this month.
Noor's campaign asked that the recount start with the precincts that represented about one-half of the total ballots — 7,397 — cast in the ward, said assistant city clerk Grace Wachlarowicz.
After recounting those precincts, elections officials found only one challenged ballot. Attorney Brian Rice, who represented Warsame's campaign during the recount, said that ballot likely would have counted for Warsame. Rice said the voter made a mark right outside the oval for Warsame.
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At that rate, Rice said it didn't look like Noor would make up the 239 votes that separated him from Warsame on election night. That's when Noor's camp withdrew its challenge.
"I've done 25 recounts in my life and this one was as accurate as any other that I've participated in," said Rice.
The city's canvassing board meets Friday to certify the recount. However, Noor's challenge may not be over.
"We have found evidence that at least one hundred people appear to have voted in our election who do not live in Ward 6," said Noor in a statement on his Facebook page. The statement said the recount wouldn't have detected those voters, and Noor indicated he may turn to the courts to resolve the issue. Noor didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Ward 6 includes neighborhoods located just south of downtown, including Seward, Phillips and Cedar Riverside, which is also home to a large East African immigrant population. Warsame was the first Somali-American to be elected to the city council in 2013.
Correction (Nov. 29, 2017): The 6th Ward recount began in two of the ward's three top voting precincts. An earlier version of this story said the recount began in the three 6th Ward precincts where the most ballots were cast.