No election races expected to trigger recount

None of the three races that appeared on Lake County ballots in the May 4 special election are expected to trigger an automatic recount, election board director Ross McDonald said. Automatic recounts in Ohio are required when there is a one-half of 1 percent or less difference in votes separating a winning candidate or issue and the losing candidate or issue in the same race. McDonald said there is enough separation in each of the three issues on the May 3 ballot that none are expected to reach that threshold when the election is certified later this month. Between the three races, there are 141 outstanding absentee ballots that could still be counted along with 72 provisional ballots. Outstanding absentee ballots need to be postmarked by May 3 and received at the election board by May 14 in order to be counted. The Lake County Elections Board is set to certify the election on May 17, McDonald said. More than three-quarters of Madison Schools voters rejected a 6.99-mill additional, according to unofficial final results. The levy was defeated by a 2,707 to 892 vote margin, according to the unofficial final results from the Lake County Elections Board — the figure includes 6 votes from Geauga County voters eligible in the district.

Kirtland Schools voters approved 1.1-mill renewal levy with a 0.95-mill increase 1,237 to 759 margin, according to unofficial final results (includes 7 votes from Geauga County voters eligible in the district). Leroy Township voters rejected a 2-mill additional road levy by a 273 to 232 vote margin, according to the unofficial final results. According to the unofficial results, Lake County saw a 29.7 percent turnout. When the race is certified, McDonald said he anticipates the final figure will just barely break 30 percent. The May 4 special election was the third conducted by the elections board during the novel coronavirus pandemic. McDonald said he is appreciative of the work being done by the poll workers during the additional challenges created by the pandemic. McDonald said the poll workers conducted the election with care and professionalism.