By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
JEFFERSON — Election workers have begun processing hundreds of provisional ballots cast during the Nov. 3 general election, said Richard Hornstein, Ashtabula County Board of Elections director.
Some 400 of the ballots are being tabulated, Hornstein said. “We’re still working on them,” he said Monday.
Provisional are ballots cast outside the voter’s usual precinct. As a result, workers must first check to make sure the voter is duly registered before the vote can be counted, Hornstein said.
By law, officials could not start counting provisionals until 13 days after the election. Ashtabula County’s election staff began its work on Friday.
The provisionals could help break a deadlock regarding a 2-mill operating levy in Windsor Township. After the Nov. 3 ballots were tallied, the outcome was split, with 222 voters on either side of the issue, officials have said.
All votes cast are unofficial until certified by election board members. The board is scheduled to meet the morning of Nov. 24 to study the results, Hornstein said.
