Ohio Special Election Results: 588 Newly Discovered Ballots Leaves Danny O’Connor Just 1564 Votes Behind Troy Balderson

The Ohio’s 12th Congressional District’s special election results became a little more muddled  yesterday, as officials discovered 588 more votes that were left uncounted, complicating an already too-close-to-call election between two-term Republican state senator Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O’Connor.

Ohio Special Election Results: Latest News

“The votes from a portion of one voting location had not been processed into the tabulation system,” said the Franklin County Board of Elections in a press release on Wednesday, adding that the uncounted votes were from a Columbus suburb.

Despite an initial lead by O’Connor, Balderson garnered some 1,700 more votes than his opponent in this week’s special election to determine which candidate would finish out the remainder of Republican Rep. Pat Tiberi’s term after he resigned in January.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer with the inclusion of the 588 newly discovered votes, Balderson leads O’Connor by just 1,564, less than the initial reports concluded.

There remain some 1,722 provisional ballots as well as 1,750 absentee ballots that still have yet to be tallied. O’Connor has said that he won’t concede until all the votes are counted. The Franklin County Board of Elections said it will certify the election results on August 24.

For the past three decades, Ohio’s 12th Congressional District has remained steadfastly under Republican control. President Donald Trump, who backed Balderson on Tuesday, won the district by a margin of 11% during the 2016 presidential election.

Whatever the outcome of this election, both candidates will face off once again in November’s general election.

Article by Eric Silverman