ASHLAND — Loudonville-Perrysville school board candidate John Temple secured his incumbency on the board, even despite a recount that revealed six instances of voter error.
The Ashland County Board of Elections conducted a recount for the school board race on Wednesday after a five-vote margin between Temple and candidate Tyler McCaskey.Â
The recount revealed six instances of voter error, which resulted in Temple receiving four votes that weren’t counted in the initial canvas; McCaskey received two additional votes.
Board of elections in Richland, Holmes and Richland counties also conducted recounts for the race, but they didn’t change the results, said Ashland County Board of Elections Chair Andrew Keller.
Shannon Johnson, director of the Ashland County Board of Elections said some voters incorrectly placed “Xs” in ovals instead of the acceptable colored-in ovals.
Ashland County uses preprinted paper ballots that require voters to hand mark their choices by filling in an oval next to the candidate. The ballots are then scanned by a digital scanner manufactured by Unisyn.
Johnson said incorrectly marked ovals can result in the scanner not tabulating it accurately.
“There’s just not enough ink in the oval for the (scanner) to pick it up,” Johnson said, pointing to a ballot in which the voter used an “X.”
She said the agency purchased special pens for the paper ballots and each ballot also includes instructions on how to properly mark them.
In another instance, an absentee ballot was not counted during the scanning of ballots, Johnson said.
The board split up into four groups of two for the recount, which involved one person reading ballot results and another tallying.
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“We may be here a while,” said David Holcomb, a board member.
There were a total of 1,565 ballots from five precincts to recount. The process took approximately two hours on Wednesday afternoon.
New system?
Wednesday’s recount was the board’s third for this election cycle. The board met Nov. 24 to conduct recounts of a razor-thin Savannah Village Council race and a tied levy in Jeromesville.
Johnson said in a separate interview that the board will need to take “these discrepancies” into account when discussing the purchase of new equipment, which could be on the horizon.
The current Unisyn system was purchased in 2017 and, at the time, Johnson said the life expectancy was estimated at 10 years.
“But it all depends on funding,” she said. “Legislators and our representatives are pushing for additional funding because everybody will age out at the same time.”
Discrepancies in this election cycle, and a close 2023 mayoral race in the Village of Mifflin, are to be expected though, Johnson said.
“It’s typical in smaller elections with smaller villages. You typically have closer races in those places. So we were kind of expecting it this time,” she said.
Audit process
State law requires a formal post-election audit.
The board will meet again on Dec. 15 to perform an audit of the results in two countywide issues.
Voters approved of a renewal levy and increase for the Ashland County Parks District and also approved a renewal for the Ashland County Mental Health and Recovery Board.
The board’s audit will consist of counting the 291 ballots in Ashland’s 3C precinct, the 180 ballots in Milton’s precinct and 174 ballots in Lake’s precinct.