Provisional Ballots Could Make a Difference in Nail-Biter Cleveland Heights Council Race

With more than 630 votes left to tally, an automatic .

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections reported that there are still 631 votes in Cleveland Heights that have yet to be counted, according to an unofficial provisional ballot report and an absentee ballot report.

Three four-year seats this election year. Incumbent was the clear winner, snagging 6,947 votes, from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

But the second and third place winners, incumbent and challenger , have only , receiving 6,281 and 6,272 respectively. And Jeff Coryell is just 54 votes behind Dunbar at 6,218.

"You can’t call for a recount until we have the official results,” said Mike West, spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, on Nov. 9.

The final results and dates and times of all automatic recounts will be released Nov. 29.

Ohio law dictates an automatic recount in municipal elections if the difference between votes cast for the declared winning candidate and the declared losing candidate is equal to or less than .5 percent of the total votes cast on the race or issue.

Looking at the numbers as they stand and the number of votes still not accounted for, a recount is likely. Evans received 19.73 percent of the vote, Dunbar received 19.70 percent and Coryell received 19.53 percent.

“Obviously I did hope to win outright. Getting so many votes that it’s close is better than getting less votes than that," Coryell said Nov. 9. "I’m honored and pleased that I got so much support ... We have to wait for the Board of Elections to follow their procedures."

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