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GOP's Geyer maintains 1-vote lead

Kim Geyer and Bob O'Neill, Republican candidates for Butler County commissioner, talk Friday after provisional ballots were counted by the county elections board.
O'Neill has 2 days to appeal board's rejection of 2 provisional ballots

Kim Geyer is slated to appear on the Republican ballot for Butler County commissioner — at least for now.

But whether her name will ultimately appear on the Nov. 3 ballot may not be known for some time.

Geyer of Adams Township maintained her one-vote lead over Bob O’Neill after provisional ballots were counted Friday by the county elections board.

The board rejected two provisional ballots contested by O’Neill of Cranberry Township. He has two days to appeal the board’s decision to the court of common pleas.

However, Geyer said Friday that she feels confident that she will be on the November ballot.

“At this point, I do now,” she said. “I think it’s where God wants me to be. I feel good. I feel comfortable.”

The elections board reviewed 13 provisional ballots cast in the May 19 primary that were contested by either O’Neill or Geyer during a board meeting earlier in the week.

The board initially affirmed three of those ballots, but later determined one could not be counted because it was not properly sealed in a confidentiality envelope.

“Our concern is confidentiality,” said Shari Brewer, the county elections director.

Brewer said the elections board takes the confidentiality envelope containing the ballot out of the provisional ballot envelope, which has the voter’s personal information on the outside, and shuffles them before the votes are opened.

O’Neill and Geyer each gained one vote from the two counted provisional ballots, allowing Geyer to keep her single vote lead.

The additional votes increased Geyer’s total to 4,286 and O’Neill’s to 4,285.

Eight of the 13 provisional ballots were dismissed after attorneys for both sides investigated the validity of the ballots and agreed they should not count.

However, O’Neill argued for the remaining two ballots to be counted, but Geyer opposed that.

One of those ballots was cast by a Brady Township woman who allegedly changed her party registration from Democrat to Republican in March.

However, the elections bureau has no record of the change.

The second contested ballot was from an 18-year-old Cranberry Township man who registered to vote for the first time. Again, the elections bureau did not have record of his registration for the May 19 primary.

Geyer’s attorney argued it was impossible to know whether their request forms were ever submitted since the county has no record of them.

“I just don’t think they can force the elections board to prove a negative,” said Doug Linn, Geyer’s attorney.

Both of the individuals with contested ballots filled out their voter status forms at fundraising tables for O’Neill, and both of their applications were allegedly taken to the elections bureau by O’Neill or his wife.

The elections bureau on Tuesday recommended to the board to dismiss the ballots. The board did reject O’Neill’s challenge following a lengthy deliberation Friday.

After the meeting adjourned, Geyer shook hands with O’Neill.

“I know this has been just as stressful for Bob as it has been for me,” Geyer said. “I wouldn’t wish this upon any future candidates. It’s been very stressful.”

Geyer said the election is an important one for the county.

“It’s a great reminder that every vote does make a difference,” she said.

O’Neill could not be reached for comment.

It is not known whether he will appeal the board’s ruling.

However, even if the provisional ballot appeal does not hold up in court, the race may still not be over.

Brewer said that once the provisional ballots are through any appeals process, the elections board will meet to certify the election results.

When that is done, there will be a five-day window in which candidates can request a recount, Brewer said.

Official election results are due to the state in early June. However, Brewer said she told the state that the county’s results may not meet the deadline.

“Normally this would be done by now,” she said.

Geyer had a two-vote lead on O’Neill before the elections board Tuesday approved six provisional ballots, which included three votes for O’Neill and two votes for Geyer.

Provisional ballots are used to record a vote when there are questions about a voter’s eligibility.

In the May 19 primary, Leslie Osche of Butler Township took the top GOP spot with 4,755 votes.

Osche and the second-place GOP candidate will face Democrats Jerry Johnston of Butler Township and Kevin Boozel of Mercer Township in the fall election. Those four candidates will compete for three commissioner seats.

Members of the elections board are retired county judges Martin O’Brien and George Hancher and Bob Moyer, retired director of county information technology.

It normally is made up of the three county commissioners, but Jim Eckstein was replaced by Moyer because Eckstein was running for re-election, and Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton recused themselves and were replaced by Hancher and O’Brien.

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