Recount of Newark School Board votes confirms tie, Christenberry win

NEWARK — A hand recount of votes for Newark School Board matched the computer-tabulation of ballots, leaving candidates Mark Christenberry and John Ault tied, but giving Christenberry the victory by virtue of last week’s coin toss.

The Licking County Board of Elections announced the recount results Thursday, showing Christenberry and Ault still even with 2,153 votes each for the second and last elected position in the Nov. 2 general election.

Incumbent Mike Blowers was the top vote-getter with 2,891 votes and Jamie Holderman was fourth with 2,123 votes, just 30 behind the two tied candidates.

Ault trailed Christenberry by 17 votes in the election night results, but the addition of absentee, provisional and paper ballots provdided Ault with 38 additional votes, compared to 21 more for Christenberry, creating the tie.

Christenberry, a former school board member, won a coin flip last week when he was assigned "tails" and the coin landed on "tails." Neither candidate was invited to attend the coin toss. A tie vote can be decided in other was, such as picking a card or picking a name out of a hat, but the board opted for the coin toss.

“I know all of them (on the elections board) and I trust them and I guess I don’t know another way," Christenberry said. "The more options you have, the more you’re open for issues. A coin toss is one or the other.”

The Hanover mayoral election in 2013, also a tie vote, was decided by a card draw. Chad Waters drew a 9 of diamonds from a deck of cards and Nicole Gieseler pulled a five of spades to determine the winner.

The local elections board has been good about helping candidates navigate all the election filings and procedures, Christenberry said.

“They’ve always been good to people and always want to help people run," Christenberry said. "I appreciate the attitude. I assume other counties are not nearly as easy to deal with.”

Christenberry, who served on the school board from 2008-11, joins Blowers, Tom Bline, Tim Carr and Warren Weber on the board in January. Board of Education president Beverly Niccum did not seek another term. Christenberry said the school district is in a very different position than during his previous term.

“It’s going to be way different because at that time we were cutting 40 to 50 jobs because of money and building all new schools, and we have none of that on our plate now," Christenberry said. "We’re in a way different place.”

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-973-4539

Twitter: @kmallett1958

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Recount of Newark School Board votes confirms tie, Christenberry win