Whitehall City Council Member Lori Elmore will keep her seat following an automatic recount of a special election that attempted to oust Elmore and two of her colleagues.
The Franklin County Board of Elections stated in a news release that the recount confirmed the original certified results, where "Yes" votes to keep Elmore in office led by eight votes. The margin was 1,094 "Yes" votes versus 1,086 "No" votes.
The board said bipartisan election officials conducted a hand recount of all ballots in a randomly selected precinct representing at least 5% of ballots cast. That recount matched the tabulated results.
Voters were asked on June 23 on the ballot to vote “Yes” if they wanted Elmore, City Council Member Amy Harcar and Mayor Michael Bivens to keep their seats or “No” if they wanted the three officials to be removed from office.
The board met last week to vote on and count the remaining provisional ballots, which flipped unofficial results on election night, showing Elmore trailing by six votes.
Bivens and Harcar also kept their seats following the election, but won by wider margins than Elmore.
"The recount process is an important part of Ohio's election system and serves as an additional safeguard to ensure every valid vote is accurately counted," Franklin County Board of Elections Director Antone White said in a statement. "Today's recount confirmed the accuracy of the original certified official results and reflects the professionalism and dedication of our bipartisan election officials."
Bivens, Elmore and Harcar are all up for re-election in 2027.
