RICHLAND COUNTY, Ohio — It was a quiet day at the polls Tuesday for the primary election.
Bill Freytag, deputy director at the Richland County Board of Elections, said based on what he heard from the poll workers, voter turnout was “very, very, very light.”
He attributed it to the fact that there weren’t many races or issues to vote for. “Off-year elections are always slower,” he added.
According to the unofficial statement of votes cast, there was a 7.03 percent voter turnout. Of 46,331 registered voters, there were 3,255 ballots cast.
Mansfield’s councilman-at-large race, Ontario’s third ward councilman race and Shelby’s director of finance race were the only contested races.
The unofficial election summary showed that Don Bryant won 56.56 percent of the votes in councilman-at-large race against Chris Elswick. Bryant has held the seat for the last four months.
Mark Weidemyre was reelected as Ontario’s third ward councilman, earning 60 percent of the votes against Sherry Lynn Branham.
Weidemyre, who serves as director of the Ontario Growth Corporation, thanked the voters for their support and said, “I look forward to another four years working for the people and working with Mayor [Randy] Hutchinson to try to bring more businesses to the area.”
He has served on Ontario Council for 12 years.
“What I enjoy about it is helping the community and making a difference–it just really feels good at the end of the day,” he said.
Steve Lifer and Cohen Lewis were the top two vote-getters for the director of finance position in Shelby and will move on to the November ballot.
As for issues that were voted on, Mansfield’s Safety-Service Director Lori Cope was excited to see the City of Mansfield .5 percent income tax pass with 65.02 percent of the votes. This is a renewal tax that runs for four years and has been in place since 1986, according to Cope. It impacts operating costs in the Mansfield police and fire departments.
“We’re very excited,” Cope said. “[The passage] tells me that we’re doing what the citizens want us to do with their money. We’re spending it fiscally responsibly, which is what they expect, and we’re just very excited and happy that it passed.”
She said the tax helps maintain the police and fire department staffing levels. “We have budgeted for 85 for police and we’re not there yet, but we will be. And this allows us to maintain that level and continue the services,” she said.
The Crestline Exempted Village School District .75 percent income tax did not pass. About 61 percent of the votes were not in favor of the tax.
The Franklin Township 1.5 mills tax levy also did not pass by a wide margin (71.21 percent of votes against the levy and 28.79 percent of votes for the levy).
However, the Monroe Township .15 mill tax levy renewal did pass with roughly 73 percent of the votes.
The Marvin Memorial Library 1.75 mills tax levy also passed with about 63 percent of the votes.
For a full list of the results, visit the Board of Elections website.
