Pinal County Supervisors Approve Canvass
Coleman takes District 6 Justice of the Peace by 14 votes
by Dana Trumbull | Apache Junction & Gold Canyon News
Pinal County Elections Director Michele Forney/Apache Junction & Gold Canyon news
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors (BOS) met on September 5, 2018, to approve the canvass of results from the August 28 Primary Election, accounting for every ballot cast on Election Day, including the on-time absentee/early ballots and accepted provisional ballots.
As reported last week, the District 6 (Apache Junction) Justice of the Peace race between Doug Coleman and Kevin Cavanaugh was very close. As of August 30, only 13 votes separated the two candidates, making the remaining absentee and provisional ballots critical. One week later, with the official canvass reporting an additional 404 votes for Coleman and 403 for Cavanaugh, Coleman pulled ahead for the official win by 14 votes.
Supervisor Rios called on Pinal County Elections Director Michele Forney to advise the BOS as to whether the narrow margin triggered an automatic recount. Forney informed the Board that ARS 16-661, which governs recount triggers, designated a benchmark of 10 votes or fewer, or a percentage of approximately one half of one percent, which would have triggered the recount at 6 votes in this particular race. Because voter turnout was low, 14 votes was more than enough to seal the deal for Coleman.
