Uncounted Ballots to Decide Critical Ohio, Kansas Races
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Ohio’s special election for a House seat and the GOP gubernatorial primary in Kansas were both too close to call.
Two high-stakes elections in Ohio and Kansas during the homestretch of primary season remained too close to call early Wednesday pending the counting of provisional and absentee ballots, foreshadowing the fierce battle to come around the nation in November’s midterms.
In an Ohio House district President Trump won by 11 percentage points in 2016, Republican Troy Balderson claimed a razor-thin victory over Democrat Danny O’Connor, leading by 1,754 votes with all precincts reporting but thousands of provisional and absentee ballots uncounted. The race will likely not be settled until Aug. 18 at the earliest.
The closely watched Republican gubernatorial primary in Kansas also remained a virtual tie Wednesday morning, with Secretary of State Kris Kobach leading Gov. Jeff Colyer by fewer than 200 votes, or one-tenth of a percentage point. President Trump weighed in on the race in the 11th hour, endorsing Mr. Kobach the day before the election.
The earliest provisional ballots in Kansas could be tallied is Monday … Kansas candidates have until Aug. 17 to request a recount, and the state has until Sept. 1 to determine the final result of the election.
In Ohio, Secretary of State Jon Husted said 3,435 provisional ballots and 5,048 absentee ballots remained outstanding late Tuesday. State law forbids counting those ballots until Aug. 18. The provisional and absentee ballots could push the margin below 0.5%, which would trigger an automatic recount under Ohio law.
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