Zimmerlink leading Lohr by 12 votes
Fayette County Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink leads her challenger Dave Lohr by 12 votes, according to vote totals released Friday.
However, the totals are anything but final as the Fayette County Election Board agreed to recess its meeting until Wednesday at 1 p.m. to decide the fate of several questionable ballots.
The board decided the fate of nine provisional ballots cast in the Nov. 8 election, but postponed decisions on seven others.
The board also heard that a figure of between five and 35 absentee ballots not initially counted were received by the legal deadline and should be calculated in the vote totals.
The board, which includes Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites and attorneys Mark Mehalov and Barbara Balling Carl, rejected two provisional ballots, accepted three complete provisional ballots and four partial provisional ballots, and tabled seven others.
Meanwhile, Larry Blosser, head of the election bureau, released updated unofficial vote totals that were obtained during the official vote count that occurred throughout the week.
While the two Democrats, newcomer Al Ambrosini and incumbent Vincent Zapotosky, are assured seats, Zimmerlink and Lohr, both Republicans, are vying the third and final seat on the board of commissioners.
The 12-vote difference marked an increase of one vote from the unofficial count released on election night.
The updated unofficial totals, which include the majority of absentee ballots and ballots cast using the paper ballots and electronic machines on Election Day, show Ambrosini with 12,075 votes; Zapotosky with 10,164 votes; Zimmerlink with 8,840 votes and Lohr with 8,828 votes.
The results of the seven provisional ballots were not released.
Of the outstanding provisional ballots, issues include whether or not the voters are registered in other counties and if the voters can provide identification.
Two of the provisional ballots, those cast by James R. Kushak and his wife Brenda E. Kushak of Uniontown, were not counted because the Kushaks sent a letter asking to have their names removed from the “voting list” and then showed up to vote on Election Day.
When contacted Friday, James Kushak said there must be a “mix up somewhere” because he wants his vote to count. He said he and his wife did move to a different house on the same street, and possibly she misunderstood what she was supposed to do.
Regarding the absentee issue, county solicitor Sheryl Heid said the day after the election Redstone Township Supervisor George Matis reported that he dropped off five absentee ballots at the Uniontown post office on Nov. 4, the day they were due.
Heid said an election bureau employee had retrieved the absentee ballots on the morning of Nov. 4, but when a call was placed to the post office at about 5 p.m. that afternoon, the post office said there were no additional absentee ballots there.
After the matter was brought forward, Heid said there was a cursory review done and there were additional absentee ballots postmarked on Nov. 4 that weren’t counted.
She estimated there are between “25 and 35” received on Nov. 8, some of which have postmarks of Nov. 4.
Heid said someone from the election bureau would have picked them up if they knew they were there on Nov. 4. She said the election bureau received incorrect information and it is clear that those votes should be counted.