RECOUNT CONFIRMS: FRANK KING WINS SANDY SHORES MAYORAL RACE

SANDY SHORES, BLAINE COUNTY — WeazelTech Electoral Systems was compelled to recount and recertify the disputed mayoral election after federal pressure, and the corrected results confirm Frank King Sr. as the winner. King winning with 1,685 votes — 61.5% of ballots cast — ahead of independent Charles Dickson's 632 votes (23.1%) and incumbent Chumley BigChum's 421 votes (15.4%), out of 2,738 ballots cast across all four precincts. Turnout was recertified at 68.5% of the county's 4,000 registered voters, correcting the original tally, which had reported turnout above 280%, more ballots than the town has residents.

WeazelTech had initially certified BigChum as the winner. Officials say the company only agreed to recount and hand over its machines and records after the FIB, backed by state pressure, threatened the company with obstruction charges if it continued to resist. Investigators say the original numbers were not a tabulation glitch: preliminary findings point to BigChum's campaign having pressured WeazelTech staff and manipulated precinct totals in his favor, though the FIB says a fuller investigation into exactly who at WeazelTech was involved, and what else BigChum's campaign may have touched, remains ongoing. BigChum, who fled by private jet during the riots that followed the original results, has not responded to the recount.

The probe has widened further after partially burned spending ledgers were pulled from the wreckage of both fires at the Mayor's Office during the riots. Investigators say the surviving pages show over $90,000 in municipal funds routed through a line item labeled "Municipal Outreach," along with a $58,000 charge for a "Mayor's Personal Security Detail" , and a $19,500 payment to a shop in Grand Senora Desert that investigators have not yet been able to connect to any legitimate town function.

City vendors are also coming forward. (HPMS), which provided space for a polling location, says a check from the city's office bounced. Officials at Sandy Shores Regional Water say a routine payment for maintenance work also bounced, and the town's own janitorial contractor says it has not been paid in five months

Voters also weighed in on six ballot measures in the same election. The Property Tax Refund measure and the Grand Senora Zoo Land Reversion measure both passed by identical 2,106–421 margins. The Sheriff Aerial Patrol Program passed 1,474–1,053. Measures to expand the C.O.C.K. Safety Camera Network, remove HPMS Director Mason Bender, and establish a Sandy Shores Volunteer Police Department all failed.

With the recount certified, King is expected to formally assume the office he was originally denied, inheriting not just a town still recovering from the riots, but a set of books investigators say may take months to untangle.

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