ASHLAND —The Ashland County Board of Elections on Wednesday approved the addition of 72 provisional ballots to the November election, but it’s too early to know how or if they will impact close races.
The approval comes five days before the board is set to certify the results of the election that yielded new candidates and levy renewals across the county.
The board is slated to certify the election on Nov. 17. Provisionals and absentee ballots will be accounted for during that meeting, which could impact close races.
Ashland County Board of Elections Deputy Director Amanda Jones said the agency is still monitoring the results for the Loudonville-Perrysville school board race between candidates Tyler McCaskey and John Temple.
Unofficial results from Ashland County show Temple earning just four votes more than McCaskey. The school district also lies in parts of Richland, Knox and Holmes counties.
Jones said two township trustee races — in Sullivan and Troy — were also close, along with the village council race in Savannah.
Provisional ballots approved Wednesday will not impact a tie in Jeromesville because there were none from the village, officials said. Determining the levy’s fate lies squarely in an automatic recount.
The board scheduled the recount for Nov. 24. That is also when the board will perform state-mandated audits.
Jones said the office received 89 provisionals this election cycle, meaning the board rejected 17 that will not be part of the official tally. Here’s how those broke down:
- Seven of them were not registered to vote.
- Nine of them did not provide a valid ID at the polls, and then did not return to the office to show a valid ID.
- One person had already cast a ballot. Shannon Johnson, the agency’s director, said the individual had voted in-person and forgot.
The majority of provisional ballots approved and thus counted toward the final tally — a total of 43 — including those who had moved to another address within the county. Another 21 moved into Ashland County and voted provisionally.
What are provisional ballots?
Provisional voting in Ohio was established in 2005. The law ensures that individuals whose eligibility to vote was uncertain could still cast a ballot that would be counted once their eligibility was verified.
There are several scenarios in which a voter may cast a provisional ballot. They can be used on Election Day if eligibility is in question, or if a voter has recently changed their address and hasn’t updated their registration.