Port: Surrey school bond failed by 5 votes, but a ballot error meant some couldn't vote

MINOT — Surrey is a small community just to the east of Minot. On the ballot this week the city's school district had a question about a bond measure. According to the unofficial results, a majority of voters, some 465, cast "yes" votes, but state law requires a 60% supermajority for this sort of question to pass. The "yes" vote fell five short, but now there's some intrigue. Surrey's school district is in parts of two counties, Ward and McHenry. Locals tell me that some of the district's voters from McHenry County didn't have the bond question on their ballot. I confirmed this with Secretary of State Michael Howe. "It's not a proud moment in election administration," he said. Each ballot given to a voter covers a variety of jurisdictions. There are the national and statewide races, of course, but also smaller political subdivisions like counties, cities and school districts. Ballots must be customized to reflect the matrix of jurisdictions a given voter falls into.