Several races remain in the air

The Struthers council president says a recount will change the outcome.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Even though we are past Election Day, a few political races in Mahoning County aren't settled just yet.
Provisional votes -- those cast by people who moved and failed to register at their new address -- will be counted as early as Nov. 17 and no later than Nov. 19 by the county board of elections.
Those votes could change the outcome of a few races.
Unofficial results have Robert Carcelli ahead of Struthers council President Danny Thomas Jr. by 6 votes. But there are 19 provisional votes that need to be counted.
Thomas said he doesn't believe he has a chance to win the race when the uncounted votes are tabulated.
"They usually follow the same pattern as regular voters," he said. "I don't see a change. You've got to be a realist. I'm not expecting anything different."
Carcelli hired Don L. Hanni Jr., a former elections board member and county Democratic Party chairman, as his attorney for the recount.
"I want to make sure everything's done according to law," Carcelli said. "I'm proud to be where I'm at right now, and hopefully everything will work out."
State law
Under state law, provisional votes cannot be counted any earlier than Nov. 17 and county election boards have to start counting them no later than Nov. 19. Between now and the day they are counted, election board employees are checking the eligibility of the voters.
It shouldn't take more than a few hours to count the provisional votes once they are opened, Deputy Director Thomas McCabe said.
After the provisionals are counted in each race in the county, only those that have a margin of victory of no more than 0.50 of 1 percent will be subject to an automatic recount. Carcelli currently leads Thomas by 0.20 of 1 percent.
The elections board will meet either Nov. 20 or 21 to certify the unofficial results and determine which races will be subject to a recount as well as set the date of the recount, said Michael Sciortino, elections board director.
During a recount, the elections board would count provisional votes by hand, absentee votes would go through an optical scanner machine with those flagged as questionable by elections employees counted by hand by the board, and votes taken at the polls would be recounted by electronic voting machines.
Provisional votes cast at the elections board and absentee votes are on paper ballots. Those who voted provisionally at their polling place used the county's standard electronic voting machines.
There is a small possibility of finding an error with an absentee ballot or interpreting voter intent on a ballot if the machine doesn't count the vote, but there is only a minuscule chance that an electronic vote was counted incorrectly, McCabe said.
Automatic recount
Two other items on Tuesday's ballot are subject to automatic recounts. They are:
UThe Austintown school bond issue, which passed by 52 votes, or 0.46 of 1 percent, on its third try. There are 87 uncounted provisional votes in the bond issue.
UThe fourth and final seat that was up for grabs on the Youngstown Board of Education. Kathryn Hawks Haney got the fourth spot with 3,441 votes, while Joyce Lomax finished in fifth with 3,327 votes. That's a difference of 114 votes, and Haney's margin of victory was 0.29 of 1 percent. There are 72 uncounted provisional votes so Lomax has no chance of catching Haney during that process. But if she can keep the margin to 0.50 of 1 percent or less, there would be an automatic recount.
Trustees races
There are two township trustee races that could receive automatic recounts depending on the outcome of the provisional votes.
In Ellsworth, William A. Spellman defeated Trustee Steve Martin by 5 votes. But his margin of victory was 0.66 of 1 percent. There are five uncounted provisional votes in Ellsworth that could force a recount.
In Smith, Trustee Valas W. Winters beat challenger Robert M. Rinehart by 7 votes. His margin of victory was 0.65 of 1 percent. There are 4 provisional votes for the Smith race that could tighten up the margin of victory and force a recount.
Candidates also can choose to pay $10 per precinct for a recount of their race.
skolnick@vindy.com