About 20 people gathered in the upstairs of the Palmer Alehouse to wait for the results of the special election to recall three members of the Palmer City Council. The polls closed at 8 pm, and when the numbers came in over an hour later, they cheered loudly — it was a landslide to recall the three who were on a special recall ballot.
The three had held secret meetings on Facebook in a closed group with a fourth council member, who has since left office. These meetings constituted illegal activity because they were not advertised or open to the public.
A group of volunteers organized a petition campaign, were able to get enough signatures to get a special election declared, and then campaigned against the three offending council members.
Of ballots counted by 9 pm:
There are 41 questioned ballots, according to a visual count. Some people came in from outside the city limits to vote, and were allowed to vote questioned ballots. Those ballots will be examined later.
In all, there are a possible 450 ballots yet to be counted. Volunteers say the votes are likely to split the same way as the votes already counted.
If they are recalled, the city council will interview applicants and pick a replacement.
