Recount shows Barkley winner

A YSU student who lost by two votes hasn't decided whether to take legal action.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Andy Barkley felt comfortable finally declaring himself winner of the Warren City Council 3rd Ward race after a recount Tuesday showed he had won by two votes over George Brown.
"I'm thrilled to have it over with and to be declared the winner," Barkley, 38, said minutes after the results were counted. "I'm ready to get to work."
He added he is eager to participate in discussions about the city budget. His swearing-in is planned for Dec. 29.
Brown, 20, a Youngstown State University student majoring in communications, said he believes the support he got from voters suggests "there's a need for youthful leadership in the city."
He said the election process he has seen up close over the five weeks since the Nov. 8 election has shown that every vote counts. Results have shown that 246 people in the ward cast ballots but did not vote in that council race -- any two of which could have changed the outcome, he said.
Brown said he regrets that doubt remains in the minds of 3rd Ward voters about who should have won. He has not decided whether he will file legal action to overturn the election results. "I'll have to explore some things before I decide," he said.
Issues and complaints
Brown and his father, John Brown, have observed the numerous elections board meetings in recent weeks and come away with a lot of complaints about the way the election was handled. The father served on Warren Council between 1986 and 1990.
The race has also produced two rulings from Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell on two questions the elections board had reached in 2-2 tie votes.
The race saw another issue emerge during Tuesday's recount that had the potential to change the vote by one in Brown's favor.
During optical scanning of absentee ballots, which are recorded with pencil and paper, one ballot was "kicked out" as unreadable. Board members looked at the ballot and took a 3-0 vote (Nettie Ashelman was absent) that the small pencil dot in the oval didn't qualify as enough of a vote to count it.
On the fourth try to scan the ballot, however, it finally did scan and gave another vote to Brown. The board voted 3-0 to reject that vote, however, leaving the two-vote lead for Barkley intact.
Brown and his father said the additional glitch would appear to be just one more problem with the way the election was handled that would seem to make a strong case for a lawsuit.
Other recounts
Recounts in the races for Champion and Gustavus trustee did not change, meaning that Tom Tracey wins the second seat over Bob Farmer by six votes in Champion, and William C. Palette wins the second seat over Steve Ragalyi by two votes in Gustavus.
Recounts scheduled today are for the LaBrae school board race, Maplewood school board race and Kinsman liquor option. The Kinsman issue is tied 95 to 95. If it remains tied, it will go down to defeat, elections officials said.
runyan@vindy.com