PARKERSBURG - Canvass of Tuesday's general election results is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Nov. 13 at the Wood County Courthouse.
Monday is a holiday, observed as Veterans Day since the holiday falls on a Sunday.
Election results are not official until after they are certified following a canvass by the Wood County Commission sitting as the board of canvass. The commissioners are required to rule on the challenged (provisional) ballots and oversee a hand count of four randomly selected precincts.
Overruling a provisional ballot means the ballot will be counted. If a challenge is sustained, the ballot is not counted. Absentee ballots received by the start of the canvass are also counted in the totals.
Once the commission completes the canvass, a 48-hour time clock begins during which a recount can be requested. If no request is filed, election results can then be certified.
There were 463 provisional ballots from Tuesday's election.
"For the amount of the turnout (61.77 percent), that's not bad at all. The pollworkers did an excellent job. There were a lot of change of addresses at the polls, a lot of people calling in with precinct inquiries. We were pleased there weren't more provisionals than that," Wood County Clerk Jamie Six said. None of the countywide races are close enough to be affected by the provisionals, Six noted.
Those who change their address at the polling place must vote at their new precinct and pollworkers challenge the ballot. It is reviewed at the board of canvass and if they voted at the proper location, the ballot is counted.
Six predicted it would take at least two days to complete the required hand count for the primary.
Once the board of canvass rules on the challenged ballots, overruling a challenge allows the ballot to be counted; sustaining it means it will not be counted. Any absentee ballots postmarked by election day and reaching the board of canvass by its start can also be counted.
Once the canvass is complete, the commissioners can declare the results. That begins the 48-hour time period for the local candidates to ask for a recount.
"However, the start of the 48-hour period for the statewide offices doesn't begin until every county affected by that race has declared," Six said. "It's a little twist they changed about six years ago."
