By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The race for seats on the Bowling Green Board of Education continues – and likely will remain in limbo for the next three weeks.
After votes were counted on Election Day on Tuesday, the unofficial tallies were:
- Tracy Hovest – 3,875
- Steve Bateson – 3,739
- Howard “Ardy” Gonyer – 3,738
- Peggy Thompson – 3,727
- Brian Paskvan – 3,505
- Joe Edens – 3,348
- Steve Goyer – 1,355
- Rick Busselle – 946 (Busselle had withdrawn from the race, but never officially filed with the board of election to withdraw his name from the ballot.)
The top three vote-getters will earn seats on the school board. But with just 11 votes separating the third and fourth place counts, and just 12 votes separating the second and fourth place counts, the winners may change when the official numbers are in.
Wood County Board of Elections Director Terry Burton said this morning that there are more votes to be counted – as always after an election. Yet to be tallied are provisional votes plus the absentee ballots mailed the day before the election, he said.
There are approximately 940 provisional ballots county-wide, but it is unknown how many of those come from the Bowling Green City School District, Burton said.
The elections board will meet about the provisional ballots on Nov. 20, at 8:30 a.m. The board of elections then has three hours to count those ballots, Burton said. The official vote counts will then be announced at an 11:30 a.m. Board of Elections meeting.
But that may not be the end of the counting.
“I’m anticipating a strong possibility of a recount,” Burton said.
A recount is triggered if there is a one-half of 1% difference between the lowest winning vote getter (in the BG school board count that would be the person in third place) and the next highest losing vote getter (the person in fourth place.)
That recount will be done the week of Nov. 27.
In the very unusual result of a tie, the winner will be determined with a coin toss, Burton said.
