Lorain County Board of Elections certifies Nov. 7 results, sets 3 recounts

SHEFFIELD TWP — The Lorain County Board of Elections certified the results of the Nov. 7 general election on Wednesday. None of the results changed, but there were three races that were close enough to trigger automatic recounts, according to the official results. Those recounts will take place at 9 a.m. Dec. 1, and will be certified at 4 p.m. that same day, elections board Director Paul Adams said. Automatic recounts are triggered when there is a difference equal to or less than one-half of one percent (0.5 percent) of the total votes cast in the contest, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's office. Final turnout numbers for the Nov. 7 election in Lorain County were 112,294 ballots cast out of 218,854 registered voters. That's a 51.31 percent voter turnout. There were 10,089 mail-in absentee ballots cast and 17,606 ballots cast in person at the elections board's offices. Recounts The three recounts are: • The Avon City Council at-large race, where voters were asked to choose three out of five candidates. Challenger Mary Berges (3,318 votes, or 18.06 percent) and incumbent Craig Witherspoon (3,297 votes, or 17.95 percent) are separated by only 21 votes. Incumbent Brian Fischer (4,914 votes, or 26.75 percent) and newcomer Michelle Patton (4,195 votes, or 22.84 percent) were the top vote-getters and easily won two of the seats that were up for grabs. Challenger Heidi Carrion came in fifth out of five candidates, with 2,646 votes (14.4 percent). • The Sheffield Lake City Council at-large race, where voters chose incumbents Rosa Gee (1,506 votes, or 28.44 percent) and Steve Kovach (1,356 votes or 25.6 percent) for two of three seats up for grabs. The recount will be over incumbent at-large Councilman Mark Cizl's 1,221 votes (23.06 percent) and 4th Ward Councilman Adam Shaw's 1,213 votes (22.9 percent), a difference of only eight votes. Shaw didn't run for reelection in the 4th Ward, instead choosing to run for an at-large seat. His 4th Ward seat was won by Romolo DeBottis, with 40 write-in votes, according to the board of elections. Shaw was appointed to the 4th Ward seat in March after Mark Erdei resigned in January. Shaw had already filed to run for the at-large seat when he was appointed to Erdei's unexpired term. • Four votes separate candidates David Hanes (5,311 votes, or 31.86 percent) and John Gassman Jr., (5,307 votes, or 31.85 percent) in the race for two seats on the North Ridgeville school board. Incumbent board president Frank Vacha Jr. secured one of those two seats with 6,044 votes, or 36.27 percent of the vote on Nov. 7. Audit State law also requires elections boards to audit the results of the election. That audit will be take place Monday at the board offices. State issues 1 and 2 are required to be audited by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office. The board also voted Wednesday to audit Issue 23, the Lorain County Metro Parks' 1.6-mill, 10-year, $14.4 million replacement levy for current park operations. Complete and official results can be found online at the board of elections website, www.voteloraincountyohio.gov/2023-general-election. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on X, formerly Twitter.