Salamun confirmed as Rapid City’s next mayor

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Rapid City officially has a new mayor. After a recount process for the election, the final results are in.

The auditor’s office started the process Wednesday morning and they concluded that the results gathered during the initial election matched the results of the recount. This recount confirms that Jason Salamun received the most votes for the election and will take office after Mayor Steve Allender’s term is finished.

The process of recounting the ballots involves hand-checking each ballot to confirm the recorded result is the same as on the ballot. After each ballot is individually checked, they are put into a machine to calculate the total for each candidate.

“Roughly 15,500 ballots were reviewed, there were several that were questioned. The recount board reviewed those questionable ballots individually and made determinations on whether or not those would be counted,” said Daniel Ainslie, a finance officer

Ainslie said the exact cost of recounting the election is still being calculated but they will know next week.

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