If several members of Partridge resident Ronda Kocher's household had been registered to vote by March 23, the all-terrain-vehicle ballot question likely would have passed April 7.
Instead, the ballot to allow ATVs to be driven on Partridge city streets failed, 41 to 42.
Kocher led the petition drive to allow ATVs, and she was a registered voter.
Three potential voters in her household, however, were not registered voters as of March 23, the deadline to register to vote in the April election.
They cast provisional ballots, but those ballots ultimately were not counted.
"It would have passed," said Kocher on Tuesday. "I could be checking my mail in my four-wheeler."
Two other provisional ballots were cast in Partridge, and one of those belonged to her neighbor, who also supported the ATV issue, according to Kocher.
Kocher came to Reno County Commission chambers Tuesday to express dissatisfaction with voter registration and election information provided by the clerk's office. She noted she had been told by staff that people had to be registered 20 days ahead of the election, but the clerk's Web site said 15 days.
Kocher obtained a brochure at the courthouse about provisional voting, but she noted that it didn't mention how many days prior to an election a person must be registered to vote.
County Clerk Shari Gagnebin apologized for information discrepancies, but also noted that the brochure was published by the secretary of state's office. Kocher said later that she intends to contact Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh.
Initially, the county clerk's staff said there were provisional ballots cast in the close race, but when the ballots were canvassed, the election result did not change. Provisional ballots cast by nonregistered Partridge voters remained in sealed envelopes and were not opened during canvassing because they were not deemed eligible.
The next scheduled countywide election is Aug. 3, 2010. If the city of Partridge wants to hold a special election, it would bear the expense of the election.