Osseo election judges Violet Zumwinkle (left) and LaRaa Veit (right) arrange the ballots at Osseo City Hall Thursday, Nov. 20, before the start of the vote recount in the Osseo School District board seat between Laura Cottington and Teresa Lunt. The Osseo election judges also counted votes from Dayton residents within the Osseo School District after completing the count for Osseo voters. At press time, the recount vote for all the cities within the Osseo School District was expected to be completed by Tuesday, Nov. 25. Photo by Bill Jones

Three weeks after the general election, Laura Cottington officially won the third seat on the Osseo School Board following a district recount that put her margin of victory at 16 votes.

Following the Nov. 4 election, just 10 votes separated Cottington and Teresa Lunt. A recount, requested by Lunt under state law, began Tuesday, Nov. 18.

The weeklong recount widened the gap between the two candidates to 14 votes, with 31 ballots challenged by both candidates. The majority of the challenges came from Brooklyn Park, with 22 contested ballots.

The Osseo School Board - acting as the canvassing entity - reviewed and voted on the challenged ballots at a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 25. Board member Linda Etim was absent.

The majority of contested votes came down to whether there was a dot verses a fully filled oval by the candidate's name. Most of the challenged ballots were decided on unanimously by the board, with the exception of three ballots from Osseo, Maple Grove and Corcoran.

By the end of the evening, Cottington was declared the winner and the results were canvassed accordingly.

Addressing the board, Lunt thanked the district's attorneys and Recount Official Ann Dale.

"They made the recount process as painless as possible - and it was painful," she said. "I appreciate everybody's time and the opportunity for the recount."

Following the meeting, Cottington expressed relief it was over.

"I am very excited about moving forward and serving on the board," she said.

After the meeting, Lunt said despite the loss, she felt good about the process and had no "qualms or bad feelings" about the results. She plans to continue to be involved in the district - serving on the strategic plan results team for communication, attending board meetings and serving on site councils at Fernbrook Elementary and Osseo Junior High. She has not ruled out a future run for the School Board in the 2010 general election.

As part of the recount, area election judges manually counted ballots from the eight cities in the Osseo School District - Plymouth, Corcoran, Hassan, Brooklyn Center, Dayton, Osseo, Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove.

Incumbents Kim Green and Dean Henke retained the other two board seats.

The Osseo School District 279 School Board is comprised of six members elected at large by district residents in November of even-numbered years. Members serve alternating four-year terms. The new directors will take office at an organizational meeting Tuesday, Jan. 6.