<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0VGn9x_1GqBxEeE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0VGn9x_1GqBxEeE00" width="1200" height="600" >SURREY, N.D. (KMOT) – More ballots for McHenry County residents mistakenly omitted a bonding measure for Surrey Public School that failed by a handful of votes, meaning the issue now could have been approved had the citizens left out voted in favor.In a letter dated Friday, Secretary of State Michael Howe stated that a deeper investigation into the matter revealed that improperly coded street segments in McHenry County led to 29 eligible voters in the Surrey school district not having the bond measure on their ballot.The bond measure aimed to raise needed funds to replace the school’s aging portable classrooms with a permanent addition, connect the school’s breezeway, improve accessibility issues and bring the campus in line with fire codes.The measure failed in the June primary with 58% of the vote. The district chose to bring it back to voters in the general election, where it received roughly 59.5% approval—failing by less than one percentage point, or five total votes.In both instances, the issue received majority approval, but in North Dakota, school bond measures require supermajority, or 60%, approval to pass.The initial probe revealed that only two ballots cast had the issue left off the ballot, meaning even if they voted in favor, it would not have changed the outcome. But according to Howe, further review indicated 12 total ballots cast, including neighborhoods in Deering, left the issue off the ballot, opening up the possibility of the measure passing had enough citizens voted yes.Howe also wrote that the issue impacted the June primary, where three of the 29 eligible voters impacted cast a ballot.“This review leaves me incredibly frustrated, and I am terribly sorry that the impact this mistake may have on the Surrey School District, the town of Surrey, and neighboring communities and businesses. Our office takes great pride in working with our partners in all 53 counties to ensure every eligible voter has the ability to participate and elect leaders, as well as deciding questions posed to the citizens of each jurisdiction. Put simply, the oversight of the North Dakota Secretary of State’s office and McHenry County has failed you in this,” wrote Howe.In the letter, Howe said a team member “did not do their due diligence” in making sure that households outside of Surrey were included in the new district boundary. Howe said that person is no longer employed by his office. A spokesperson for Howe said the team member had departed the office before the matter came to light.Your News Leader reached out to Surrey Superintendent Steve Bucks, who said the school’s leadership team would be figuring out how to move forward and bringing a plan to the school board at their meeting next Thursday.Surrey has roughly 440 students enrolled in grades Pre-K through 12.Related coverage:Here is the full letter from Secretary of State Michael Howe to the Surrey School District School Business Manager Alyssa Brennen:November 6, 2026Sent via EmailAlyssa BrennenSchool Business Manager, Surrey School DistrictMs. Brennen,Thank you for your continual outreach regarding the Surrey School District Measure No. 1 ballot question from the 2026 General Election and questions from voters who reported not seeing that question on their ballot.Our office has had conversations with McHenry County Auditor Darlene Carpenter and after an initial review it was identified that a street segment was improperly coded that affected nine eligible voters, which we discussed yesterday. Of those nine, two participated in the 2026 General Election and did not have the Surrey School District Measure No. 1 question on their ballot.Our office initiated further review with McHenry County, and we discovered more manual input errors regarding street segments having improperly coded addresses. In total, including the initial review, eight street segments had improperly coded addresses for 13 households in the rural area surrounding the city of Deering. These addresses have 29 eligible voters, of which 12 participated in the 2026 General Election. This error also impacted the Primary Election in which 3 of the 29 eligible voters participated.This review leaves me incredibly frustrated, and I am terribly sorry that the impact this mistake may have on the Surrey School District, the town of Surrey, and neighboring communities and businesses. Our office takes great pride in working with our partners in all 53 counties to ensure every eligible voter has the ability to participate and elect leaders, as well as deciding questions posed to the citizens of each jurisdiction. Put simply, the oversight of the North Dakota Secretary of State’s office and McHenry County has failed you in this.The public deserves to know how a mistake like this can happen and how it will not be repeated for future elections. This error occurred because a member of our team did not do their due diligence in working with McHenry County to make corrections to new street segments for 2026. They mistakenly reviewed city boundaries and did not place those households outside the city boundaries into the Surrey School District. That member of our team is no longer an employee of the North Dakota Secretary of State’s office.As of today, McHenry County has corrected the mistakes regarding street segments. All addresses are properly coded. For 2028, our office will be implementing new software already appropriated by the North Dakota Legislature to use GIS map modeling that will alleviate the manual input process for street segments and address coding.In our previous conversations with you we discussed options for contesting the 2026 Election with the court system. Our office will comply with all requests by a court. Should you choose to contest this election under NDCC Chapter 16.1-16, I will author a letter to the courts to support your efforts.Indeed, it is speculative on how those 12 voters would have voted if given the opportunity to weigh in on the ballot question, just as it is speculative if others would have participated if they knew the question would be on their ballot. What is certain is that they were not given a choice at all, and for that I apologize with all my heart.Sincerely,Michael HoweSecretary of Statecc: Surrey Public School Board MembersDarlene Carpenter, McHenry County Auditor</div></body>

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SURREY, N.D. (KMOT) – More ballots for McHenry County residents mistakenly omitted a bonding measure for Surrey Public School that failed by a handful of votes, meaning the issue now could have been approved had the citizens left out voted in favor. In a letter dated Friday, Secretary of...

Report: More McHenry County ballots omitted Surrey bond issue

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SURREY, N.D. (KMOT) – More ballots for McHenry County residents mistakenly omitted a bonding measure for Surrey Public School that failed by a handful of v

Report: More McHenry County ballots omitted Surrey bond issue

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