Recount needed for Champaign County village council race

Two votes separate St. Paris candidates.

A recount has been scheduled for later this month for a St. Paris village council race that is now separated by only two votes.

The Champaign County Board of Elections met earlier this week and scheduled a recount for Tuesday, Nov. 24, in the race between Terry Ervin II and Niven Jester. Because only one precinct is involved, the ballots will be counted by hand, said Kathy Meyer, director of the board of elections.

Most recent results released this week when the election was certified show Jester has a two-vote lead over Ervin, forcing a recount. The recount is required because the difference was less than one-half of 1 percent, Meyer said.

If they had been separated by three votes, a recount would not have been necessary.

The most recent results are slightly different from the unofficial count on election night. Initial results showed Ervin as the winner by one vote. But when the votes were officially counted Tuesday, the results showed Jester was ahead by two votes, Meyer said.

Neither Jester nor Ervin could be reached for comment Wednesday.

“I don’t look for it to change,” Meyer said of the results.

The last time the board had to conduct a recount was in 2013 for a local option to sell alcohol at Walmart, Meyer said.

Three seats were up for grabs on the St. Paris village council in this month’s election. Tyler Adkins won one seat available, claiming 37 percent of the vote.

Joseph Reneer also won a contested race for St. Paris village mayor, earning 65 percent of the votes to defeat Brad Kennedy, his opponent.

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