The votes of five people who legally cast their ballots in the Dec. 1 election were not counted, and without a recount, the reason will never be known.

The question of the missing votes is even more significant considering the fact that the election was decided by a margin of five votes.

Incumbent Loretta Lipsey won the runoff over challenger Rooster Cogburn with a vote of 246 to 241. The total number of ballots cast in the election was 492, and the number of votes tallied was 487.

The presence of four rejected ballots complicated the issue the night of the election. This reporter was mistaken in including the four rejected ballots in the five missing votes in the story filed immediately after the Dec. 1 election. That information was false.

The envelopes containing those ballots were never opened and therefore not counted by the optical scan machines.

The tapes generated by the two optical scan machines recording the ballots show three votes unaccounted for from one machine and two from the other. Those votes added to the rejected ballots make the total of uncounted votes nine.

Cogburn asked for a recount as soon as the totals were announced, and this reporter was told that night that the ballots would be recounted as soon as the election results were certified by the state. A call to The Jones County News office the next day, however, reported that the results were final and no recount would be held.

A recount is mandatory if the margin between the candidates is less than 1 percent, and the margin between Lipsey and Cogburn was 1.02 percent. The minute percentage amount over the 1 percent put the decision in the hands of Gray’s election superintendent, and she reportedly opted not to recount the votes.

The denial of the recount leaves Cogburn with the option of contesting the results, which he must do within five days of their certification. If he chooses to contest the results, the suit will be filed in Jones County Superior Court, and the case must be heard within 10 days.