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Some election numbers still in question

Absentee, provisional ballots not yet counted; 1 close race could be affected

Tuesday's primary and special elections went off with just a few hitches, but some of the night's business remains outstanding.

Here's a rundown of noteworthy numbers still in question after the election.

Absentee ballots were included in the unofficial election results reported by the Bureau of Elections on Tuesday night.However, 11 provisional ballots remain to be considered and potentially added to vote totals.Shari Brewer said those 11 other ballots could be known Friday, or more likely by next Tuesday. They have to be accounted for in the regular post-election process that involves an election committee and a formal canvassing of results.Provisional ballots are paper ballots provided at a polling place when there is a question of a voter's eligibility to vote.

On the Democratic ticket for judge of the Court of Common Pleas, William “Wink” Robinson won by just six votes over Jennifer Gilliland-Vanasdale, according to unofficial results.Robinson also won the Republican nomination. By those results, he'll be the only candidate to choose from in November.But with 11 provisional ballots outstanding and full election canvassing to be completed, Robinson's slim margin over Vanasdale on the Democrat ticket is likely to be closely watched.A campaign manager for Vanasdale said Wednesday that it was too early for their campaign to decide whether to call for a recount, and that they'll make a decision after seeing the final canvassing.

Two special elections in Butler County wrapped up with Republican victories, but voters wouldn't have known which candidate was the Republican based on ballots alone.Due to an error by the election bureau, special election candidates in Butler County were listed without their party affiliation.This affected all of the 7,556 Butler County people who cast votes in the election for the state Senate's 41st District race, plus all 10,352 votes in the state House's 11th District race.Brewer reported the error to the Department of State on Tuesday, but she hadn't heard back yet when asked for an update on Wednesday.Neither of the losing candidates took umbrage with the mistake, so a challenge is unlikely.Sam Doctor, the Democrat in the House race, said he didn't call for any corrective action and was fine keeping results as they were.A campaign manager for Susan Boser, the Democrat in the Senate race, said they wouldn't submit a complaint or challenge.The Eagle reached out to the Department of State for clarification on the possible consequences of the error. The spokesperson with the department confirmed receipt of the request, but had no information to offer on Wednesday.

Election watchers up late Tuesday night shared frustrations over one last precinct that took far longer than the other 88 to report its ballots to the courthouse.When wrapping up, precinct workers initially had a discrepancy between their ballot numbers and voter numbers and had to recount and reorganize on the spot, according to Brewer. They followed policies and ended up with proper, matching figures, she said.“They took their time to do it right,” Brewer said.

According to the Department of State's website, election policy mandates that all electioneering materials and campaign workers must remain at least 10 feet from the entrance to the room where polling is happening.At least one voter reported problems with electioneering within those 10 feet. Roberta Andrade of Concord Township said campaign workers flanked the door when she went to vote at the township's election hall. Campaigning on the hall's doorstep was “aggressive,” she said.“With my hand on the door handle, I could've stretched my arm out and touched him,” Andrade said.Andrade said she called the election bureau to report the problem.

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