Five forlorn questioned ballots have been counted, and Haines has a new borough assemblyman.
Judge Patricia Collins' decision to accept the five ballots means write-in candidate Daymond Hoffman has bounced from losing the election to Gary Lidholm by two votes to winning by three. The ballots in question included two votes for "D. Hoffman," one for "Hoffman," and two absentee ballots that arrived without postmarks.
Some in Haines had argued that the ballots should be counted, while others, including Lidholm and borough attorney Michael Gatti, said the votes that omitted Hoffman's full first name were either ambiguous or joking.
At an Oct. 27 meeting, the Haines Borough Assembly voted 4-3 not to count the five ballots, and on Nov. 3, ten Haines residents filed an appeal in state Superior Court demanding that the ballots be counted.
The case was argued Friday morning in Juneau, and that afternoon Collins ruled that the three ballots be counted and the two absentee ballots opened and counted. After the absentee ballots were opened by the in-court clerk, the judge read them and announced that both votes were for Hoffman.
The Haines residents who sued named themselves the Haines Election Recount Organization, or "HERO," according to Joe Geldhof, one of the attorneys who represented the group.
"It turned out, much to my delight, that the Supreme Court analysis was very favorable to the HERO appellants," Geldhof said.
Reached at his smoked salmon business, Dejon Delights, Hoffman said he didn't push for a recount or any kind of legal action after the election because he didn't want to cause any more division in the community. Hoffman also said he's looking forward to learning the ropes of the Haines Borough Assembly, and added that he's got some homework to do over the next week to catch himself up.
Interim borough manager Bob Ward (who is filling the position while the assembly seeks a replacement for former borough manager Tom Bolen) said an extra assembly meeting has been scheduled for Nov. 23 to deal with Hoffman's certification.
"We still haven't gotten the judge's final judgment on that, but we're presuming that she will be ruling that the assembly should recertify the election with Mr. Hoffman as the winner," Ward said.
Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul_alaskadispatch.com.