Nov 13, 2017 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – A count of absentee ballots in the Greene County coroner’s race completed Monday by the county elections office gave Republican challenger Gene Rush a four-vote lead over Democratic incumbent Gregory Rohanna.

The counting of the 225 absentee ballots and two provisional ballots as part of the election canvass left Rush with 3,355 votes to Rohanna’s 3,351 votes.

The race has been too close to call since the Nov. 7 election. Preliminary results released election night of the voter machine tally had Rush, 69, of Rogerville, eight votes ahead of Rohanna, 59, of Jefferson, in 3,248-to-3,240 vote.

However, a tally of absentee ballots counted at the polls Tuesday night – but not included in the vote total until Wednesday – had Rohanna up by just one vote.

The second counting of the absentee and provisional ballots Monday, this time by the elections office staff, gave Rush the four-vote lead. Rush received an additional 107 votes and Rohanna 111 votes over Tuesday night’s machine totals.

Neither candidate could be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

The vote totals remain unofficial until they are certified by the county elections board following the completion of the canvass.

Elections Director Tina Kiger said she expects her staff to complete the canvass Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. The office staff still has to check and reconfirm its numbers, she said. However, she added, “I really don’t expect any changes.”

After completing the canvass, the results will be presented to the elections board, formed by the three county commissioners, for the first of two signatures. Any challenge must be filed with the court within five days of the election board’s first signature, Kiger said. If no challenges are filled within five days, the results receive the board’s second signature for certification, she said.

The elections board met Monday following the count to decide whether two absentee ballots on which there were questions should be counted. The board’s last meeting had been recessed at the call of the chair which permitted the three commissioners to convene and rule on the ballots Monday.

The board determined that one absentee ballot on which “white out” had been used on a judicial race, was void and could not be counted. Instructions on the ballot indicate a vote cannot be erased or altered on the ballot, Kiger said.

The second, in which a voter apparently voted straight party Democrat but placed a mark above the oval rather than inside it was found to be valid and was counted as a vote for Rohanna, who has served as coroner since 1996.

The count Monday was conducted in the commissioner’s meeting room at the county office building. Neither candidate was present though several people representing Rush’s campaign were there to observe.

The count proceeded precinct by precinct with Kiger reading the vote for each ballot and the two other members of the elections office staff, Amie Nehls and Rachel Gillispie, keeping tally.

At one point Monday morning, Waynesburg attorney Brandon Meyer, representing Rush and the county Republican committee, objected to the count, claiming the parties should be able to view the ballots as they were counted.

The procedure being followed by the elections office, he said violates the election code “by not providing us the ability to examine the ballots,” he said.

Kiger denied Meyer’s request to view the ballots during the count, saying the office had checked with the state Department of State and Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman regarding the correct procedure to follow on the count.

The elections office later in the morning received updated information from the Department of State, whom Meyer had called regarding the procedure, Kiger said. The department’s directive indicated Meyers could view the ballot once the computation was completed, she said.

Meyers said he wanted to see the ballots during Monday’s count to avoid the time and unnecessary costs that would be involved should a petition for recount be filed with the court.

Viewing the ballots during Monday’s count would help him determine which precincts should be challenged in a recount petition.

A candidate who challenges the vote must file a petition for each precinct signed by three electors of that precinct. The challenger also must pay a cost of $50 a precinct.

If the candidate doesn’t know in which precincts there might be errors or fraud, he would have to challenge all 44 precincts, each requiring a separate petition and a $50 fee, Meyer said.