FREMONT – Provisional ballots for the May 5 primary election were counted May 18, and all the ballot totals were certified May 19 without any changes to the outcomes of any races or issues.
Out of 11,581 ballots cast in the primary, 9,568 votes were cast on election day, 1,464 cast in the office, 506 absentee and 43 provisionals. The Democratic Party ballots had 13 provisionals and the Republican Party had 30.
One absentee vote was UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act), which did count.
Three absentee votes were not counted because they did not arrive by 7:30 p.m. on election day, according to the rules approved by the state for this election. Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by the Monday before the election and arrive by four days after, which would have been by May 9, as calculated the old way. Post marks no longer matter.
Tom Younker accepted the totals for provisional ballots.
“I do that reluctantly, because they probably would have counted,” Younker said. “When they drop it in the mailbox, they expect it to be delivered on time.”
In support of his reluctance, he told the board about a friend’s check mailed to a local grain elevator.
“My friend in Gibsonburg sent a check to Woodville, a large check to the elevator,” Younker said. “From the time he mailed it, it took 30 days … They are trying to dismantle the Post Office. How do you do it? Discredit it.”
The board thanked the local post office for delivering four ballots just at the end of the postal working day on election day.
There were five voters who did not present ID at the polls, making them provisional ballots, but three voters came back with an ID and were accepted.
The closest Sandusky County election narrowed
The closest local election narrowed on the final count between Justin Smith and write-in candidate George Dunlap for Sandusky County Republican Central Committee Fremont 1-D, but it was not enough to push Smith into the winner’s column.
With the unofficial count on election night Smith received 59 votes (48.36%) to Dunlap’s 63 (51.64%) write-in votes. That vote total narrowed when the provisional ballots were counted on May 18, bringing Smith’s total to 60.
One of the write-in votes was also invalidated.
“It was the wrong name. The only name that somebody could write down there to be counted as a write-in was Mr. Dunlap,” said Lisa Hartley, Sandusky County Board of Elections director. “You have to be officially a write-in candidate, so you can’t put somebody else’s name up there. We get it all the time. We get Kermit the Frog. We get God, Miss Piggy. It happens all the time.”
Official write-in candidates have to file paperwork with the Board of Elections. They have to file by Feb. 23 to get on t he ballot and regular candidates had to file by Feb. 4.
“[Write-in candidates] are not actually on the ballot. It’s just a line for their name,” Hartley said.
The Ohio Secretary of State also counts overvotes and undervotes, neither of which count toward any candidate’s total.
“An undervote is when the voter leaves a race blank on the ballot, and an overvote is the other way,” she said.
The Fremont 1-D race had 18 undervotes.
Undervotes tend to take place more frequently in uncontested races.
The Fremont 1-D race had a two-vote margin, 60 for Smith and 62 for Dunlap.
In other election news, results for issues on the ballot:
Sandusky County 911 District Tax Levy Renewal: 6,747 (64.88%) voted for the tax levy and 3,652 (35.12%) voted against.
Woodville Village Tax Levy Current Expenses: 211 (48.62%) voted for the tax levy and 223 (51.38%) voted against.
Jackson Township Tax Levy Renewal and Increase for Fire: 190 (52.20%) voted for the tax levy and 174 (47.80%) voted against.
Townsend Township Tax Levy Additional Fire: 147 (52.5%) voted for the tax levy and 133 (47.5%) voted against.
York Township Zoning Plan: 260 (33.38%) voted for the plan and 519 (66.62%) voted against.
Contact Roger LaPointe at 419-332-2674.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Sandusky County primary votes certified
Reporting by Roger LaPointe, Fremont News-Messenger / Fremont News-Messenger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
