By Shay Lelonek / Asst. News Director

SHERBURNE CTY., Minn. — On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, election officials hand-recounted ballots for the ISD 728 school board race and affirmed the results tabulated on election night.

The recount focused on the third and fourth-place candidates, in which the top three vote-getters would get elected.

Unofficial results before the recount showed Shane Steinbrecher finished third with 15,756 votes while Shari Knip finished fourth with 15,695 votes and the difference fell within the margin for a publicly funded recount.

After the recount, Steinbrecher gained seven votes while Knip gained five votes.

The change in vote totals was predominately due to ballots that had more than three candidate ovals marked.

No ballots were challenged by either candidate.

After the completion of the tally from the 16 Sherburne County precincts and the one Isanti County precinct, Knip elected to not continue for the recount in the remaining 17 precincts in Anoka, Hennepin, and Wright counties.