Recounts? Here's what is happening with razor-thin races in Summit County

About 2,100 provisional and absentee ballots were approved for counting last week after a four-hour Summit County Board of Elections meeting.

It remains to be seen, however, whether those votes will have any impact on several close races in the county.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before Election Day. They are tallied election night, but some arrive after Election Day.

By Ohio law, they must arrive at the local board of elections no later than four days after the election to be valid.

The 2,100 ballots are spread across the 371 precincts in Summit County, an average of less than seven per precinct.

Four close races remain in Summit County

Although the ballots were OK'd, the votes haven't been tabulated, including those on four close races in the county.

They are:

• Revere Board of Education with Kasha Brackett leading Claudia Mendat Hower by 45 votes for a board member seat.

• Northfield Village Council, where incumbent Gary C. Vojtush Sr. leads challenger Yulia Gray by 10 votes.

• Silver Lake at-large council, where Suzanne Garrett leads James Kurtz by 19 votes.

• The Barberton mayorol race, where challenger Megann Eberhart is behind Mayor William Judge by 124 votes.

Recounts are automatic when the margin is .5% or less in municipal races.

In the Barberton election, Eberhart said Wednesday via text she is waiting on the final count this week to decide if she'll seek a recount if the margin doesn't trigger an automatic one. Candidates are permitted to request a recount within five days of the official vote count and must pay for it.

November election results will be official Nov. 28

On Tuesday, the board, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will vote on the official canvas, which includes votes from the 2,100 ballots approved last week.

"We are still in the process of opening them," said Pete Zeigler, deputy director of the Summit County Board of Elections. "We will release those as part of the final official results."

Zeigler said Wednesday that research continues on a few ballots that will be decided upon at the next meeting.

Switched outcomes rarely occur

He said it's rare that an election night outcome changes after provisionals and absentees received within the legal time limit are tallied.

"History would say no," he said. "History has shown that the unofficial results tend to hold."

A result that changes from election night is very rare, whether it flips from provisionals or a recount. It did happen, though, in a 2013 race for Akron Municipal Court, when Judge Katerina Cook overcame a 16-vote deficit to lead by 17 after provisional ballots were counted. A recount verified the win.

Zeigler said the board has not received many calls on the close races.

"We've not gotten a whole lot of inquiries about any of them," he said.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Board of Elections to meet Tuesday with 4 close races in balance