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Fairfield races may need recount

By Jennifer Edwards    Cincinnati Enquirer    09 November 2005


FAIRFIELD ? The final outcome of the mayor and city council races won?t be known for nearly two weeks until Butler County election officials verify 168 provisional ballots ? and perhaps longer.

The mayor?s race was decided by one vote. The last of three seats on city council seat was decided by 121 votes.

Councilman Howard Dirksen won the mayor?s race with 3,639 votes ? just one more vote than challenger and former councilman Ron D?Epifanio, according to unofficial, final vote counts.

Under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, each state must provide stand-by ballots to voters if they cannot be found on registration lists, are in the wrong polling place or don?t have proper identification but insist they are eligible to vote.

Those ballots are kept separate from others until their eligibility can be confirmed.

By law, boards of elections have 10 days starting from today to verify those ballots were only ones cast by those voters, said Betty McGary, deputy director of the Butler County Board of Elections.

?I knew it was going to be tight. Every vote counts,? said D?Epifanio, 64.?I would love to see it go my way, but if it doesn?t, I wish him luck. Whatever happens, happens and you live with the outcome.?

Dirksen, 62, also said the close Fairfield race proves every vote is important.

?At this point, I am hopeful that I will hold onto the lead and come out on top,? said Dirksen, a 14-year veteran councilman. ?I hope the provisional ballots are favorable. I especially hope that the democratic process takes place and every vote is fairly treated.?

After the provisional ballots are tallied, if the outcome of the mayor?s race remains the same, there will be an automatic recount.
Boards of elections in Ohio are required to recount every race that is decided by one half of one percentage point or less.

If the mayor?s race falls into a category where they would not receive a free count, anyone is allowed to ask for a recount, but they must pay for it. D?Epifanio said he would not request a recount if one is not automatically required.

?I have total confidence in the board of elections that every vote will be counted properly,? said the retired small business owner.

The city council races also could change once the provisional ballots are verified, McGary said.

Candidate Mike Oler secured the third open seat on council with 4,166 votes ? 121 more votes than challenger Debbie Pennington.

The last time Fairfield saw such a close race was about eight years ago, when now Vice Mayor Steve Miller won a council seat from Incumbent Terry Singer by a few votes.



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