ASHLAND — Election results in Sullivan Township and Perrysville will remain after a tight race in the General Election automatically triggered a recount.
Tab Bloom and Ermal Alexander will serve as the new trustees in Sullivan Township. The recount there was triggered when Bloom earned 186 votes compared to Glen Goff Sr., who earned 185.
In Perrysville, Steve Goines will serve on the village’s council — along with three others: William Herman Jr., David Artrip and Bob Zakutni.
“I’m feeling relieved,” said Tab Bloom, who won.
The Ashland County Board of Elections members and staff broke into three teams to count absentee, provisional and Election Day ballots. Each team performed the recount by hand in separate rooms.
Once those recounts were tallied, the team compared them to official results.
Randall Stroh, a write-in candidate for Perrysville Village Council, earned two additional votes during the recount after board members noticed two voters did not fill in the bubble for “write-in” on the ballot.
The two votes did not affect the results of the election. After the recount, Stroh gleaned 13 write-in votes.
Andrew Keller, president of the board, said state law allows those votes to be counted if the write-in is discernible.
The recount, which occurred at the board of elections office Tuesday, was open to the public. The only people present were members of the media and Tab Bloom and his wife, Erica.
At one point during the recount, BOE Director Shannon Johnson decided to recount the recount because some of the numbers weren’t matching up.
“I’m feeling nervous and anxious,” Bloom said about 40 minutes into the recount. “I mean, now they have to recount the recount.”
Bloom expressed doubt in the recount because of some “things that have been happening” in Sullivan.
Johnson said off-year elections tend to be closer and so recounts have happened in the past. However, she could not remember when there were more than two automatic recounts during the same election.
The deadline for candidates to request a recount has passed. Johnson said those requests must be made within five days of the election results being certified. The board certified the results Nov. 18.
