The well-worn cliché that one vote can make a difference is ringing true for two candidates who ran for Lick Township trustee in the Nov. 4 General Election.
When the Jackson County Elections Board conducted its Official Count of the General Election on Monday, Nov. 17, it was determined there was just a one-vote difference between incumbent Steve Willis and challenger Bobby Haislop for the second trustee position. Willis received 177 votes and Haislop 176 — a one-vote margin and more importantly, a percentage difference of 14-hundreths of one percent.
According to state elections law, since the percentage difference is one-half of one percent or less, the Jackson County Elections Board will conduct an automatic recount of the votes in the Lick Township race. No other contests in the county involving candidates or any non-candidate issues were close enough to require an automatic recount.
Jackson County Elections Director Margaret Casey reports that the automatic recount for the Lick Township trustee race will be conducted at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24. Per state law, it will involve a hand count of the ballots for Lick Township trustee as well as the votes cast in Lick Township for the two countywide levies.
The Official Count can always affect the outcome of close contests in an election as it includes not only a recounting of the ballots counted on the night of the election, but also previously uncounted provisional ballots and mailed-in absentee ballots which were received after the day of the election.
Challenger Steve Gilliland was the top vote-getter in the Lick Township with 210 votes, followed by Willis and Haislop with incumbent Shawn Sexton finishing closely in fourth place with 161 votes.
In the Unofficial Count on Election night, Willis led Haislop by two votes, 177 to 175. Haislop picked up one extra vote in the Official Count while the vote total of Willis remained the same.
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