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One-vote margin guarantees a recount
A single vote is the margin of victory for a seat on the Lowellville school board.
John A. Wilaj, an incumbent member, leads Lori Carlson by one vote for the third and final spot on the board.
Wilaj’s lead was four votes until Wednesday when provisional ballots and “late” absentee votes were counted.
Lates are ballots postmarked no later than the day before the election that had to be at the Mahoning County Board of Elections by Nov. 13.
Provisions are primarily cast by those who move into a voting district no more than 30 days before an election or fail to provide a valid form of identification at a polling place.
The elections board will meet Tuesday to certify the election results and set a date for that recount, and for two other races.
Voters in the Lowellville school district could cast ballots for up to three of the four candidates seeking seats on the board of education.
If one person who voted for Wilaj as an afterthought went with Carlson instead, the latter would be leading.
If two people who were going to vote for Carlson stayed at home because they weren’t feeling well or weren’t in the mood to go to their polling precinct, the outcome would be different.
There’s always the recount, but all of the questionable paper ballots — primarily those who voted by mail or provisionally — have already been reviewed by the board.
It’s possible the results could change, but it’s not likely.
In an article I wrote about the one-vote race, I started with: “Don’t think your vote counts?”
In reality, not all votes count.
The board of elections threw out close to 200 provisional and late absentee votes countywide.
I don’t know if any of them impact the Lowellville school board race.
Amusing reasons
But some of the reasons why ballots were disqualified are amusing to me, and probably maddening to others.
The late absentee ballots had to have a postmark of Nov. 2, the day before the election.
The board disqualified 52 ballots because they were mailed after that deadline.
Five people mailed empty envelopes to the elections board. Yes, they forgot to put their ballot in the envelope when they mailed it to the board.
You have to sign absentee ballots, but 17 people who voted failed to do so.
There were 50 people who voted provisionally in the wrong precinct — another automatic disqualification.
Twenty-two people who weren’t registered to vote filled out ballots. That was a waste of time.
It’s one of the basics of voting. You’ve got to be registered to vote before you can actually vote.
Voters are required to show some form of identification when casting ballots at their precincts.
There’s a lot of ways to prove you are who you say you are.
There’s a driver’s license, any number of utility bills, a bank statement, a paycheck, and a government document, to name a few.
No IDs
There were 11 people who didn’t provide identification cards/documents at the polls.
They were allowed to fill out provisional ballots and go to the board of elections later with proper ID. They all declined.
I also learned something interesting; at least to me.
If you vote before Election Day and die before the polls open at 6:30 a.m. that day, you vote doesn’t count.
In Mahoning County, there were three people who voted before Election Day and died before the polls opened.