MENTOR, Ohio — Two local races in Mentor remain too close to call nearly a week after Election Day.
Both Lake County races have razor-thin margins that demonstrate how every vote matters in local elections.
According to the Lake County Board of Elections, the unofficial results for the Board of Education Mentor Exempted Village seat show Daniel Hardesty has a one-vote edge over Robert Izzo. For a Mentor member of Council at Large, unofficial results show Annie Payne is edging out Brian Cook by just three votes.
"We have a couple close races in Lake County," said Director of the Lake County Board of Elections Dante Lewis.
Atiba Ellis, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University Law School, says these results prove that every vote counts.
"Yes, I think that elections like school board and other local elections are the ultimate example of when every vote really matters,” Ellis said.
“The fact of the matter is that we are seeing more and more elections that are close, given the controversies in politics these days, and folks can be evenly divided,” explained Ellis.
The Lake County Board of Elections will meet on Nov. 25. After that meeting, Lewis said the provisional and remaining absentee votes will be counted.
"They will be counted in our central count tabulator," Lewis said. "Anyone who would be here for our board meeting would have the ability to go over and watch us count the ballots,” he said.
However, there's a chance these races still won't be decided on Nov. 25. If the margin is within one-half of 1%, there will be an automatic recount.
