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Provisional ballots won’t alter Struthers mayor, Youngtown council wins
YOUNGSTOWN
There aren’t enough provisional ballots to change the outcome of the Struthers mayoral Democratic race, and it’s highly unlikely those uncounted votes will impact Youngstown’s 1st Ward primary.
In Tuesday’s Struthers mayoral primary, Danny Thomas Jr., a former city council president, beat Ronald Carcelli, a school board member, by 50 votes – 1,019 to 969, according to final but unofficial results.
There are only 17 provisional ballots to be counted in Struthers, so when the Mahoning County Board of Elections certifies the primary results, Thomas will be declared the winner.
“I’m happy we can finally put this election to bed and move onto November,” Thomas said.
Three independent candidates have filed to run for Struthers mayor. The elections board needs to certify they have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions before they can be placed on the November general election ballot.
In Youngstown’s 1st Ward city council Democratic primary, Julius T. Oliver beat Mike Write by only nine votes – 276 to 267, according to final but unofficial results. Jose A. Rivera, a third candidate in that race, received 78 votes.
There are 13 provisional ballots to be counted. Nearly all of those ballots would have to be deemed valid and be votes for Write for him to win.
“I’m hopeful,” Write said. “We’ll see what happens and then we’ll go from there.”
Oliver said, “Me winning by nine votes and waiting for the provisionals lets you know how important it is to vote. People say, ‘My vote doesn’t count.’ But look at how close this race is. Every vote counts.”
Tuesday was the first time Oliver has voted since November 2012. He said that at times he didn’t know the issues or didn’t feel candidates were qualified for positions so he didn’t vote. Oliver also said there were times he was too busy with work to vote, even though he could have done so by mail.
Provisional ballots may be used if a voter’s eligibility is in question on the day of an election, or 30 days before an election if a voter changed address, according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.
Also, if a person requested an absentee ballot and goes to a polling location, that person would vote provisionally.
Those without proper identification when voting must take a valid ID to the board within seven days after the primary for their provisional ballot to be counted.
All election boards in Ohio must check the eligibility of those who vote provisionally before those ballots can be counted. Boards must wait until May 16 and no later than May 20 to verify and count provisional ballots. The board has until May 26 to certify the ballot.
If the margin of victory is 0.5 percent or less after all votes are counted, the race is subject to an automatic recount.
Turnout for Tuesday’s primary was worse than the low expectations of election officials in Mahoning and Columbiana counties.
In Mahoning County, turnout was 17.8 percent. The prediction from elections Director Joyce Kale-Pesta was 25 percent, but she had acknowledged that was probably too optimistic.
Turnout in Columbiana County was 8.9 percent. Elections Director Adam Booth had predicted 15 percent though said he’d be surprised if turnout reached that.
Turnout in Trumbull County was 16.4 percent. That’s within the 15-percent-to-20-percent range predicted by elections Director Jodi F. Dibble.
Also, Wednesday was the filing deadline for issues to be filed with boards to get on the special Aug. 4 ballot.
The city of Canfield was the lone entity in the Mahoning Valley to file for that election. The city is seeking an additional 0.5 percent income tax to go along with its existing 1 percent income tax. The new tax would generate an additional $1.5 million annually.