‘It’s not over yet’ for Davis, Tarpley

Youngstown council primary, Beloit levy results unknown

YOUNGSTOWN -- The outcomes of Youngstown council's 6th Ward Democratic primary and a Beloit fire levy won't be determined by the Mahoning County Board of Elections for about two weeks -- and it could be even longer.

The Youngstown race currently has former Councilwoman Janet Tarpley leading incumbent Anita Davis 223 to 220. The fire levy is tied at 49 to 49.

The board received two valid provisional ballots at its office and had another person vote provisionally with that person having until Saturday to provide a valid form of photo identification for the vote to count, board Director Tom McCabe said.

Twelve absentee ballots in the 6th Ward have not been returned, McCabe said. Those ballots have to arrive by Saturday at the board and be postmarked no later than Monday, the day before the primary to be counted, he said.

"Sometimes people don't return their absentee ballots," McCabe said. "They forget about it, put it aside, lose it or sometimes it gets lost in the postal system or doesn't arrive in time from the post office."

The board tentatively is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. May 18 to certify the primary ballot and order an automatic recount if margins of victory are half of 1 percent or less.

Tarpley's current margin of victory is 0.68 of a percent.

A recount can be done at the cost of a candidate for $50 per precinct, McCabe said.

Seven precincts are in Youngstown's 6th Ward.

While disappointed with the unofficial results of Tuesday's primary, Davis isn't giving up.

"I'll wait to see the outcome of the count and then I'll make a decision from there," she said. "But $350 for a recount is more than doable."

That would further delay the official outcome.

Tarpley said of her comfort level with a three-vote lead: "I don't feel confident at all. I feel in limbo."

She added: "I am so shocked. I saw the low turnout and that's usually good for the incumbent. A win is a win, but I can't say I won as it's not over yet."

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 The law was repealed in 2018 and then reinstated by voters in 2022 to take effect with this year's election.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.

The vote-counting machines sometimes don't read a vote if the voter circles the oval rather than fill it in or if a voter crosses out a candidate's name after filling in the oval and then fills in the oval for the opponent, he said.

Also, votes can be thrown out if one oval is filled in and only a dot put in the oval of the other candidate as those ballots are considered to be votes for both, McCabe said.

BELOIT LEVY

The Beloit fire levy finished in a 49-49 tie. There is one late absentee ballot in the village that has to be returned to the elections board by Saturday with a postmark of no later than Monday, McCabe said.

If a tax levy finishes in a tie, the issue is defeated because it failed to gain a majority under state law, McCabe said.

If the one absentee ballot does arrive, a margin of victory could 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.

"We'll take the extra care to make sure that the number is right," he said.

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.