Absentee ballots have not been certified by the Onondaga County Board of elections, leaving the close race for Marcellus town council seat between Mary Jo Paul and Donald Sherman undecided.
The 67 absentee ballots that were cast for the race have been counted, but as of this paper’s press time, still need to be certified and merged with machine votes, according to the Board of Elections office. The candidates are unofficially tied, with 645 votes for each candidate. Final, certified results will be available later this week.
Paul earned 610 votes against Sherman’s 605 votes on election night in November. Peter Hakes, a Marcellus resident, will take the other of the two council seats with a clear victory, 812 votes, and could be a deciding factor in who takes the seat.
In the event of a tie, the newly elected board will vote to appoint either Paul or Sherman to the seat in January, and a special election will be held that November, according to Karen Pollard, town clerk. Details of this process will be finalized at the Dec. 12 town board meeting.
