Wayne BOE completes recounts, post-election audit

The Wayne County Board of Elections announced the successful completion of four recounts and an audit of votes cast in the Nov. 7 general election.

The recounts, which took place Dec. 4-6, were held for races where the certified results were within a 0.5% margin.

The Dalton mayoral race remained tied after a hand count of every vote cast in the contest — affirming the declared winner as Blake Nussbaum as determined by lot at the board’s Nov. 27 certification meeting.

Other recounts confirmed results in the City of Wooster Council At Large and for the second position in the Triway Local Schools Board of Education member race. In the City of Wooster Ward 1 contest, the results were amended to add one vote for Michael Todaro for a mis-scanned paper ballot. The amended results did confirm that Lukas Gaffey was the successful candidate.

“The recounts, especially for the mayor of Dalton contest, confirm that every vote really does count,” said Julie Leathers-Stahl, director of the Wayne County Board of Elections.

The audit, which took place Dec. 11, was reported to the Ohio Secretary of State with 100% accuracy. The post-election audit was conducted by completing a hand count of 5% of the ballots cast in the general election for State Issue 1, State Issue 2 and the Wayne County Care Center tax levy, selected through a random draw at a public meeting. The hand count confirmed the official results as certified by the board of elections on Nov. 27.

“Post-election audits are important,” Stahl said. “Verifying a random sample of ballots confirms the accuracy of certified election results and provides assurance to Wayne County voters that their elections are accurate and honest.”