Key issues on the delayed March primary ballot included a new levy to build a Senior Center in Urbana (issue is narrowly passing with 3,507 votes for/3,381 against); a street levy for St. Paris (passing with 206 votes for/150 against); and a levy in Christiansburg (passing with 50 for/29 against).
In contested Republican races for Champaign County sheriff and two Champaign County Commission seats:
-Sheriff: Incumbent Matt Melvin (2,184 votes) leads both challengers Chad Burroughs (1,641 votes) and David Patrick (1,064 votes).
-Commission: Incumbent David E. Faulkner (2,077 votes) is losing to challenger Tim Cassady (2,605 votes).
-Commission: Incumbent Steven R. Hess (2,889 votes) is leading challenger Stacey Flora Logwood (1,710 votes).
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. was the deadline for voters hand-delivering paper ballots to local boards of elections, but completed paper ballots postmarked April 27 have until May 8 to arrive and be counted, according to information from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, the March 17 primary was moved to April 28 and in-person voting was replaced by absentee-ballot voting. Votes that already had been cast in-person were among those counted on Tuesday.
For this reason, although the Champaign County Board of Elections tallied ballots on Tuesday following the 7:30 p.m. deadline, LaRose’s office emphasized to local media outlets that unofficial results released this week should not be viewed with any degree of certainty.
The county Board of Elections meets May 18 to certify election results.
Other countywide officeholders, state officeholders and U.S. officeholders on Champaign County ballots were running unopposed in the primary. Three Democrats were on the ballot for the nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in November.
