Updated vote tallies from the Essex County Board of Elections have confirmed winners in several local races that were too close to determine for certain on election night.

The new vote total reflects the addition of the absentee ballots that have been returned, validated and counted. State election law allows absentee ballots to be received by county boards of elections through Nov. 12, provided that they were postmarked by election night.

In the town of Jay, incumbent Supervisor Matthew Stanley has won reelection, defeating Daniel Mark Deyoe. Stanley garnered 501 votes (51.4%) to Deyoe’s 473 votes (48.6%), according to results that include absentee ballots. Percentages were rounded to the nearest tenth and do not factor in ballot selections that were not for either of the candidates, which include undervotes and void ballots.

There 11 undervotes in that race — where voters left that race blank on their ballot, not making a selection for either candidate nor writing in anyone — and three void ballots, where voters failed to properly mark their ballot for that race. There were no write-in votes.

Stanley ran on the Democratic and independent “Stronger Jay” party lines. Deyoe ran on the Republican and independent “Citizens” party lines.

Incumbent town council members Stephen L. Forbes and Knut Sauer also won reelection in a four-way race for two seats on the council. Forbes led with 482 votes (29.2%) and Sauer received 471 (28.6%). Robin Licari and Archie R. Depo did not win election to the council, with Licari placing third in the race with 449 votes (27.2%) and Depo finished in fourth with 247 votes (15%).

Given that there were two open seats, voters could make up to two selections on their ballot. Percentages were rounded to the nearest tenth and do not factor in ballot selections that were not for any of the candidates, which include undervotes and void ballots. There were 292 undervotes in that race. In instances where voters only chose to vote for one candidate, that would register as one vote for their candidate of choice and one undervote simultaneously. There were also 35 void ballots.

Forbes ran on the Republican and independent “Peoples Choice” party lines. Sauer and Licari both ran on the Democratic and independent “Vision for Jay” party lines. Depo ran on the independent “Peoples” Party line.

There was a stark geographical divide to the town of Jay supervisor and council races. The town is divided into two election districts, with District 1 containing Jay, Upper Jay and North Jay. District 2 contains the northernmost quarter or so of the township, including the portion of AuSable Forks that lies in Essex County.

In the supervisor’s race, Stanley carried District 1 by a margin of 415 votes (58.9%) to Deyoe’s 289 votes (41.1%). Deyoe carried District 2 by a margin of 184 votes (68.1%) to Stanley’s 86 votes (31.9%). Percentages were rounded to the nearest tenth and do not factor in ballot selections that were not for either of the candidates, which include undervotes and void ballots.

In the council race, Sauer and Licari were the top two vote getters in District 1, while Forbes and Depo were the top two vote getters in District 2.

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Wilmington

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In the town of Wilmington, newcomer Hanna Cromie won election to a council seat on the town board, squeaking out an eight-vote margin over third-place finisher Mindy Goddeau. Cromie led Goddeau by 13 votes on election night, meaning that the absentee ballots received after Election Day tended to favor Goddeau, but it wasn’t enough to ultimately flip the margin.

It was a four-way race for two council seats. Forest “Randy” Winch is the other winner. Winch finished in first place overall, and had a margin from election night returns that exceeded the total number of outstanding ballots, making him the presumptive winner at that point.

The updated town council tally had Winch with 321 votes (26.8%), Cromie with 290 votes (24.2%), Goddeau with 282 votes (23.6%), incumbent Tina Terry Preston with 255 write-in votes (21.3%) and Karl von Entress with 48 votes (4%).

Terry Preston ran as a write-in candidate after deciding to seek reelection after the deadline for candidates to get their names on the ballot had passed. Though von Entress’ name was on the ballot, he was not actively running. He ended his campaign after the deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot had passed.

Given that there were two open seats, voters could make up to two selections on their ballot. Percentages were rounded to the nearest tenth and do not factor in ballot selections that were not for any of the candidates, which include undervotes and void ballots. There were 134 undervotes in that race. In instances where voters only chose to vote for one candidate, that would register as one vote for their candidate of choice and one undervote simultaneously. There were also 7 void ballots.

Winch and Cromie ran on the independent “Peoples” Party line. Goddeau ran on the independent “Truth” Party line. Von Entress ran on the Republican Party line.

Updated results for the town supervisor race — in which Timothy John Follos was determined to have won on election night when his margin exceeded the total number of outstanding ballots — show Follos with 341 votes (52%) to 292 write-in votes (44.5%) for Sam Haselton and 23 votes (3.5%) for incumbent Favor J. Smith. Percentages were rounded to the nearest tenth and do not account for the 13 undervotes in the race. There were no void ballots.

Follos ran on the independent “Peoples” Party line, and had campaigned as a ticket with Winch and Cromie. Smith’s name was on the Republican and independent “Honesty” party lines. Though Smith’s name was on the ballot, he was not actively running. Smith ended his campaign after the deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot had passed. He had endorsed Haselton after he dropped out of the race.

Final steps

Though Stanley, Forbes, Sauer and Cromie all led on election night for their respective races, there were more outstanding absentee ballots than their vote margins — meaning that if all had been returned and had hypothetically been cast for an opponent, it could have flipped the race. Essex County Democratic Deputy Commissioner Jen Fifield confirmed that with these absentee ballots now counted, there are no longer enough outstanding ballots to change any of these outcomes.

Ballots from active service military members, their spouses and dependents, as well as Americans residing overseas during the election –provided that they are eligible and registered voters — can be received by county boards of elections in New York through Nov. 17, provided that they were postmarked by Nov. 4.

The county boards of elections will recanvass the general election results and conduct a verifiable audit of voting systems of Nov. 19. The counties will then certify the results and transit the certification to the state Board of Canvassers, which then has until Dec. 15 to certify the general election results statewide, the final formal step in the process.