Results of 3 contested races await provisional-ballot count

By David Skolnick

YOUNGSTOWN — Provisional ballots that could impact the results of three closely contested elections in Mahoning County will be counted Wednesday.

Even so, election results won’t be finalized any earlier than Nov. 30.

Provisional ballots are cast by people who move into a voting district no more than 30 days before an election, those who changed their name (typically through marriage) without notifying the board of elections or fail to provide a valid form of identification when they go to the polls.

The county board of elections will meet at 8 a.m. Wednesday to determine the validity of provisional ballots. The provisional-ballot count will be finished that day, said Thomas McCabe, board director.

State law requires county elections boards to wait between 11 and 15 days after the election to start counting provisional ballots.

Election employees spend the time after Election Day and before the provisionals are counted verifying those voters’ addresses and eligibility, McCabe said.

Those provisional votes could decide the outcome of as many as three races.

Those races, with totals that include only the votes counted Nov. 3, are:

- Boardman Board of Education: John Landers has 5,558 votes for the third and final spot on the board compared with incumbent Niklaus Amstutz with 5,543 votes. There are 63 provisional ballots to be counted in this race.

- Campbell Board of Education: Diana Petruska is ahead of Crystal Elash 1,274 to 1,268 for the third and final spot on the board. There are 21 provisional ballots to be counted in this race.

- Beaver Township trustee: Incumbent Thaddeus J. Lyda Jr. has 896 votes compared with 880 votes for Alfred Barney Davison for the second and final seat up for grabs this election. There are 21 provisional ballots to be counted in this race.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the board will schedule a date to certify the official election results. That meeting must occur before Nov. 24 under state law.

If a candidate wins a race by 0.5 percent or less, there is an automatic recount.

State law requires the board of elections to wait at least five days and no more than 10 days for an automatic recount after the results are certified, McCabe said.

Because of Thanksgiving, the earliest recounts could be done is Nov. 30, he said.

During a recount, absentee and provisional ballots are counted by hand.

Also, whole precincts whose vote totals equal at least 5 percent of votes cast on Election Day on electronic, touch-screen machines must be counted by hand using the machines’ paper count.

If the hand count and the machine count aren’t exact, elections boards must hand-count every vote in that race.

There were two other close races on Election Day that could end up being subject to automatic recounts. There aren’t enough provisional ballots to change the outcomes. But there is a chance the results could change if recounts are done.

Those two races are:

- Lowellville Board of Education: Incumbent John A. Wilaj is ahead of incumbent Lori Carlson by four votes, 529 to 525 for the third and final spot on the board. There are only two provisional ballots in that race.

- Coitsville Township trustee: Gregory T. Haren, with 342 votes, is beating 24-year incumbent Walter Avdey, with 334 votes. There are six provisional ballots in that race.

skolnick@vindy.com