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YOUNGSTOWN -- Amber White has an 18-vote lead in Youngstown City Council's 7th Ward race over incumbent Basia Adamczak, but as many as 48 votes are left to count.
White, an independent, was leading Adamczak, a Democrat, 672 to 654 with Republican Josie Lyon receiving 335 votes, according to unofficial totals from the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
The board of elections will meet Nov. 16 to certify the ballot results.
Thirty-one people voted provisionally, and 17 absentee ballots are outstanding in the ward, Tom McCabe, board director, said. Not all provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots get counted, he said.
For example, not everyone who requested an absentee ballot by mail returns it. If they do, it had to be postmarked by Monday, the day before the election, and it has to arrive at the elections board by next Monday to be counted.
People vote provisionally when they do not have a proper form of identification under state law, or moved or changed their name after the Oct. 10 voter registration deadline, McCabe said.
Some voters who changed names or addresses after the registration deadline and vote provisionally provide identification at polling locations.
Those who don't -- or voted provisionally because they didn't show a proper form of identification -- have until Monday to provide that information to the board of elections for their votes to count, McCabe said.
The board has seen few of the late-arriving absentee ballots counted in the past, McCabe said.
"That's very typical," he said.
During the May Democratic primary for Youngstown council's 6th Ward seat, there were four provisional and 12 absentee ballots that were outstanding. None of the absentee ballots arrived by the deadline and one of the four people who voted provisionally failed to provide a proper photo identification by the deadline.
That left three votes to be counted with Janet Tarpley ahead of incumbent Anita Davis by three votes. Davis picked up all three provisional votes and won the primary when Tarpley lost a coin flip. Davis was reelected to a third four-year term Tuesday.
White is leading Adamczak, a two-term incumbent, by 1.09%.
Automatic recounts are held if the victory margin is no more than 0.5 of a percent.
A candidate running for a ward council seat in Youngstown can pay $350 for a recount. There are seven precincts in the city's 7th Ward and a paid recount costs $50 a precinct.
Adamczak said she would pay for a recount if the final results show she lost and the outcome wasn't within the margin for an automatic one.
"I want to make sure things are fair and just," she said.
Adamczak added: "The provisionals need to be counted. Once there's a final vote, I'll have a final statement."
When Adamczak ran for reelection four years ago, she was tied 567 to 567 with challenger Donald P. Scott on election night. After provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots were counted, she won by seven votes, 580 to 573.
White couldn't be reached Wednesday to comment.
In a Facebook post, White wrote: "If the numbers hold after provisional ballots are counted" it "looks as if the 7th Ward has spoken. I entered this race with the goal of talking to every resident in the ward and I've worked since early this summer to accomplish that. I'm going to work just as hard as I campaigned for you. For those that supported my opponents I hope to prove to you that I am here for every resident and visitor of the ward."
If White's win holds, she would be the first independent member of city council in 28 years.
White ran as a write-in candidate for mayor in 2021, finishing in third place.
She and her husband, John, spearheaded the 2022 Youngstown charter amendment to reinstate term limits for council members. It was approved with 82% support.
Because of the charter amendment, starting with this election, council members can serve for up to two consecutive four-year terms before being required to sit out a term before running again with the same two consecutive terms rule applying.
Other than Adamczak, the other six incumbent council members were overwhelmingly reelected.
Before the election, the board of elections raised questions about the residency of five of the six people living in the ward at a house at 2354 Mount Vernon Ave., including White's stepdaughter. Five of them registered to vote between Oct. 5 and 10.
The issue was the result of a complaint filed by Adamczak.
White previously said Christine Lewis, her stepdaughter, had moved out of the 7th Ward before the election.
McCabe said Wednesday the board was going to review who voted there, but it appears two of the five people who registered at that address voted in this election.
"I want to see how many people there voted before taking the next step," he said. "It's very transient people."
McCabe said he would also look to see how many people voted at 2803 South Ave., White's former address. Five people registered between Oct. 6 and 10 there and six people asked for absentee ballots, McCabe said. He added that house has a transient population.
"If 18 people voted there then we'll have an issue, but I don't think that will be the case," McCabe said.
Complaints about voter registrations at 2803 South Ave. were made by Adamczak and Christopher Travers, who backed Lyon.
McCabe said he didn't find anything that merited further consideration at either address after talking to people there and was waiting to see who voted using those addresses before deciding if the matter should be further pursued. An expected board hearing on those at 2354 Mount Vernon Ave. was never held.