43
Election recounts finalized in Mahoning Co.
YOUNGSTOWN — Four weeks after Election Day, the results of three close races were finalized.
The recounts didn’t change the outcomes.
But the candidates fighting it out for a seat on the Campbell City Board of Education each picked up two additional votes in the recount.
In the closest race in Mahoning County, Lowellville school board member John A. Wilaj held off Lori Carlson by one vote, 528 to 527.
County board of elections employees spent about 31‚Ñ2 hours Tuesday conducting the recounts.
By state law, all absentee and provisional votes were counted by hand.
Also, whole precincts whose vote totals equal at least 5 percent of ballots cast on Election Day on electronic, touch-screen machines were counted by hand using the machines’ paper count, said Thomas McCabe, elections board director.
That also is a state requirement when recounts are conducted.
By state law, if a candidate wins a race by 0.5 percent or less, there is an automatic recount.
The results of the two other recounts were:
UBoardman school board with John Landers beating incumbent Niklaus Amstutz 5,598 to 5,576.
UCampbell City Board of Education with Diana Petruska beating Crystal Elash 1,283 to 1,276.
Petruska and Elash each picked up two votes in the recount, McCabe said.
“Two absentee voters used light blue pen and didn’t fill in the oval [next to the candidates’ names] all the way,” he said. “Both voted for both candidates. Because of the light pen and not filling in the oval, the votes weren’t read by our machines.”
The Campbell school board race had four candidates running for three seats. Those voting in that race could select up to three candidates.
Petruska beat Elash for that third and final board seat.
skolnick@vindy.com