Friday, November 20, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
A hand recount of an anti-fracking charter amendment in Youngstown will start Dec. 1 and could take two days to complete.
Backers of the so-called Community Bill of Rights said they will officially ask for the recount today after the Mahoning County Board of Elections certifies the results of the Nov. 3 general election.
“We won’t do the recount until Dec. 1 to give time to anyone else who wants to request a recount,” said Joyce Kale-Pesta the board’s director. “We don’t expect anyone else to ask for a recount, but [we] want that option available.”
Ray Beiersdorfer, one of the backers of the anti-fracking charter amendment, had a check for $2,475 with him at Friday’s board meeting, and said he’d turn it over to board officials today for the recount.
The board is allowed to charge up to $55 a precinct, and Youngstown has 45 precincts.
It would be the first hand recount of paper ballots in the county in at least two decades.
The anti-fracking measure failed for the fifth time though the 2.94 percent margin of defeat is the closest.
Read more about the board's other actions in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.