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Counting of provisional and remaining absentee ballots began Monday in the disputed 2nd House District, and Schmidt got 116 provisional votes compared with Wulsin's 69 in rural Adams County. That pushed Schmidt's overall lead past 2,900 votes in unofficial returns. However, the three largest counties in the district, which includes all or parts of seven southern Ohio counties, weren't beginning their counts before Tuesday. Wulsin needs to do well in the populous counties, including Hamilton where Cincinnati is located, to overcome Schmidt's lead. Stephanie Thompson, Adams County elections director, said 196 of 265 provisional ballots cast there were considered valid and were counted Monday. Schmidt carried the county with 55 percent of the vote on Election Day. A total of nearly 9,000 votes could remain in other counties in the district, depending on how many provisionals are verified. Provisional ballots were given to voters if there was a question about their residency or eligibility. Elections supervisors say verifying the ballots is time-consuming, and all results probably won't be known until next week. "It's all very labor-intensive," said Mike Keeley, elections director for Clermont County, where more than 2,300 ballots remained to count as workers checked provisionals Monday. John Williams, elections director in Hamilton County, said workers hoped to have "the lion's share" counted on Wednesday, but doesn't expect to be finished until next week with a short holiday week this week. "I'd rather be right than fast," Williams said. There are some 12,000 provisionals countywide in Hamilton, with around 4,000 of those expected to be in the 2nd District. Williams said historically, about 70 percent of provisional ballots have been verified for counting in past elections. Sue McIntosh, elections supervisor in Brown County, said workers would assemble Monday night to count about 367 remaining ballots. Schmidt, who took the seat last year in a special election, likely will pad her margin in the counts, her campaign says. Wulsin refuses to concede, saying she wants to see the results after all Warren County will begin tallying on Monday, with nearly 5,000 provisional and absentee ballots countywide; nearly half the county is in the 2nd District. Schmidt's strongest counties were Warren, where she won 59 percent of the vote, and her home county of Clermont, where she won 56 percent. Wulsin carried Hamilton with 53 percent of the vote, in unofficial results tallied so far. In another undecided race in central Ohio, Republican incumbent Deborah Pryce picked up 257 votes in Madison County in provisional and overseas ballots counted Monday, her campaign said. Mary Jo A Kilroy campaign spokeswoman could not immediately confirm vote counts. About 19,000 ballots remain to |
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