Once all the early voting and Election Day ballots were counted in Howard County late Tuesday, results in two of the Board of Education races remained unclear.
With only a few dozen votes separating District 5 candidates Andrea Chamblee (15,353 votes), and Trent Kittleman (15,291) and a similar margin separating the candidates in District 1 Andre Gao (12,690) and Meg Ricks (12,634), answers for who will fill those seats may be a long time coming.
Current school board chair Jen Mallo earned 13,448 votes, just 358 votes more than her opponent Julie Kaplan, who earned 13,090 in District 4.
Howard County Elections Director Guy Mickley said Wednesday morning that about 22,000 mail-in ballots would be counted Thursday across the whole county. Mickley said the elections board received “heavy” provisional ballots and staff didn’t have the chance to open the bags Tuesday. The provisional ballots must be vetted, and eligible provisional ballots will be counted on Nov. 13.
Mickley said there will be a lot of long hours for election staff through next week.
Howard’s school board consists of seven members elected to serve four-year terms and one student member who is voted in by county students. Each of the five county council districts has one school board representative; two at-large members are elected countywide. The at-large members were not on the ballot this year.
If the final results for any race come within 0.5% of each other, then candidates can request a free recount. If not, then candidates can pay for a recount, though it can be costly, according to Mickley.
In the races, “you never know” how the votes will end up, but the results are run and then “we look again,” Mickley said.
Chamblee said she remains hopeful but not overconfident as final results are awaited. She hasn’t yet thought ahead to a recount.
“I have confidence in our election process and in the people who count our votes,” Chamblee said. “So, if they were to recommend a recount I would be happy to consider their recommendation.”
Chamblee expected the results of the race to be close, she said, noting that “every vote counts.”
In the other school board races in Howard, it appears that all three incumbents will return to their seats, according to unofficial election results posted Tuesday night.
In District 2, incumbent Antonia Watts had 14,893 votes compared with Larry Doyle’s 7,351 votes. In District 3, incumbent Jolene Mosley, who ran uncontested, received 21,518 votes.
This story will be updated.
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