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WARREN -- There are five races in Trumbull County -- Howland trustee, the last seats on the McDonald and Hubbard school boards, a Bristol additional levy and a LaBrae School District replacement levy -- that are too close to call.
All five are within the 0.5 of a percent margin of victory / defeat to get automatic recounts.
What will likely decide the final results are late-arriving absentee ballots and those who voted provisionally, as neither of those have been counted.
"All five races are very much in play," Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, said.
The elections board is scheduled to meet Nov. 17 to determine the validity of provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots. The board plans to meet Nov. 27 to certify the results of Tuesday's election. The state's deadline for county boards of elections to certify elections is Nov. 28.
If any of the races still are within that 0.5 of a percent margin for an automatic recount, that would be scheduled at the Nov. 27 meeting. It's likely some of the results won't be finalized until next month.
In the Howland trustee race that featured seven candidates, Frank J. Dillon, a former assistant police chief, is leading with 1,537 votes and Julie J. Altawil in second with 1,527 votes, according to unofficial results from the elections board. The margin of victory is 0.16 of a percent.
There are 63 provisional ballots and 46 late-arriving absentee ballots in that race, Penrose said.
Not all provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots get counted, she said.
For example, not everyone who requested an absentee ballot by mail returns it and if they do, it had to be postmarked by Monday, the day before the election, and must arrive at the elections board by next Monday to be counted, Penrose said.
People vote provisionally when they do not have a proper form of identification under state law, or moved or changed their name after the Oct. 10 voter registration deadline.
"The provisionals are here," at the board office, Penrose said. "It's a matter of them being valid. Most provisionals are counted because of a name or address change and they show the proper ID at the polls. If they didn't show it at the polls, then the need to show up here with their driver's license" by Monday.
Penrose said four people who voted provisionally at polling locations Tuesday later came to the board office with their driver's licenses.
The closest race in the county in terms of total numbers -- and not percentages -- is a 2-mill additional levy in Bristol for fire and emergency medical services. It was winning by three votes, 500 to 497 on election night, a 0.3 of a percent margin. There are eight provisional and 15 late-arriving ballots in that race, Penrose said.
A 3-mill replacement levy for LaBrae schools is winning 1,046 to 1,040, a 0.28 of a percent margin.
There are 19 provisional and 13 late-arriving absentee ballots in that race, Penrose said.
In the McDonald school board race, two incumbents are battling it out for the third and final spot. Donna M. Shields is ahead of Joseph M. Cappuzzello 669 to 657, a lead of 0.4 of a percent. There are 29 provisional and six late-arriving absentee ballots in that race, Penrose said.
In the Hubbard school board race, William Cummings, an incumbent, holds a 1,994 to 1,963 lead for the third and final seat over John B. Jordan. That's a lead of 0.33 of a percent.
There are 30 provisional and 37 late-arriving absentee ballots in that race in Trumbull County, Penrose said. The school district includes a small section of Mahoning County and there is one provisional and one late-arriving absentee ballot there for this race.
Voters could choose up to three candidates in the McDonald and Hubbard school board races.