MANSFIELD — The Richland County Board of Elections on Tuesday approved an additional 897 ballots from the 2020 primary election.
The board will add those votes to those already approved and run the entire county batch on Wednesday, which should then decide the Democratic Party race for Richland County Probate Court Judge.
When the “polls closed” on April 28, marking the end of an extended primary campaign, the party race to replace Judge Phillip Mayer appeared too close to call on Tuesday night.
Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner received 148 votes more than her opponent, Joe Jerger. Pscholka-Gartner had 2,744 votes, compared to 2,596 for Jerger, according to the elections board.
The eventual winner will face Republican Kelly Badnell in November. She was unopposed in the primary.
The probate court judge was the only countywide race in Richland County that could be impacted by the additional votes.
The bipartisan elections board unanimously on Tuesday allowed 185 provisional ballots and rejected 55 others.
The board also unanimously accepted 712 absentee ballots that arrived after Aug. 28, but that were postmarked by the April 27 deadline. Another 155 absentee ballots were ruled ineligible with the vast majority postmarked after April 27.
The elections board will meet again May 19 to officially certify the vote totals.
