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YOUNGSTOWN -- With Janet Tarpley clinging to a three-vote lead in Youngstown council's 6th Ward Democratic primary, there are only three ballots left to count.
In the 49-49 tie vote for a Beloit village fire levy, there's only one uncounted vote.
The results of those two tight races will be determined when the Mahoning County Board of Elections next meets 4 p.m. May 18.
In the Youngstown race, there were four provisional ballots and 12 absentee ballots that were outstanding. But none of the absentee ballots arrived by Saturday's deadline, and one of the four people who voted provisionally failed to provide a proper photo identification by that same Saturday deadline so that ballot wasn't counted.
Tarpley, a former councilwoman, is ahead of two-term incumbent Councilwoman Anita Davis by a tally of 223 to 220.
A visibly nervous Tarpley said of having to wait until May 18 for the results: "I'm already dying."
If Davis were to capture all three provisional votes, the race would end in a tie. That would result in a coin flip to determine the winner and then an automatic recount.
"I feel worse," Tarpley said. "It would be a flip of the coin if they're all hers. I have to hear the final verdict. I wish we knew."
Recounts are automatic if the margin of victory is no more than half of 1 percent.
Tarpley's margin of victory is 0.68, outside the automatic recount.
If Davis gets two of the three votes, there would be an automatic recount. If Tarpley gets at least two of the three votes, there wouldn't be an automatic recount.
But Davis said regardless of the outcome, she will pay the $350 fee for a recount. There are seven precincts in Youngstown's 6th Ward and a paid recount costs $50 a precinct.
"I don't blame her for asking for a recount," Tarpley said.
The elections board is scanning the uncounted ballots, but won't tabulate the results until May 18 when the board meets to certify, Director Tom McCabe said.
Under state elections law, the board isn't permitted to provide any results between the unofficial tally, usually done on the night of the election, and when the body meets to certify the official numbers, McCabe said.
Board Chairman David Betras said he didn't want anyone to know the results until the board meets.
"If it's leaked out, I'm going to go cray cray because we'd be investigated," he said.
But Betras admitted he would be excited to decide the race by a coin flip.
Davis, a retired Youngstown police detective sergeant, succeeded Tarpley in 2015 and is seeking a third four-year term on council.
Tarpley, who worked for more than 30 years at Mahoning County Juvenile Court before her 2018 retirement, couldn't run for a third term in 2015 because the city's term limits law at the time prohibited it. The law was repealed in 2018 and then reinstated by voters in 2022 to take effect with this year's election.
A hand recount by board employees can sometimes change a few votes, McCabe said.
BELOIT LEVY
The Beloit fire levy finished in a 49-49 tie. There was one late absentee ballot in the village that arrived in time and will be the deciding vote.
If a tax levy finishes in a tie, the issue is defeated because it failed to gain a majority under state law, McCabe said.
When the one ballot is counted, the margin of victory or defeat would be 0.56 of a percent, just outside the automatic recount percentage.
But McCabe said even if that happens, he is recommending the board have an automatic recount for the levy.
A recount of less than 100 votes could be done by board employees right after the board meets to certify the primary ballot results, McCabe said.
The tax levy would raise $61,194 per year and is for a continuing period of time, meaning it would last for as long as village officials choose to collect it.
The same levy failed in the November 2022 election 151 to 146.
dskolnick@vindy.com