Saranac Lake village Clerk Amanda Hopf signs each side of a taped box of ballots from the village election on Tuesday night. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — The results of the Saranac Lake village election were too close to call on Election Night Tuesday, and with all four candidates on the ballot having between 445 and 481 votes each, village election officials are sending the ballots to the Franklin County Board of Elections for a recount.

The results of this recount should be expected within five days of notifying the county, according to village Clerk Amanda Hopf, who notified the county first thing Wednesday morning. Franklin County Republican Election Commissioner Tracy Sparks said recounts are required when candidates are within 20 votes of each other, due to the passage of a new state law passed a few years ago.

Sparks confirmed on Wednesday that her office had been notified. She was reaching out to the state Board of Elections for clarity on the recount process. This is a rare occurrence. Sparks said the five-day window for the recount has begun. It’s not a five-day-long process, but they have five days to conduct it at some point during then.

Currently, the unofficial totals put Sean Ryan and Aurora White in the lead, but these numbers are subject to change, Hopf said.

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Unofficial totals

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There were a total of 892 ballots cast in Saranac Lake on Election Day, and 82 absentee ballots returned out of 105 issued for a total of 974 ballots.

Election officials initially did not want to reveal the vote totals for each candidate. With the possibility of a runoff election in the case of a tie after the recount, they did not want to sway public opinion if another vote would need to happen.

But after numerous calls to the county Board of Elections and insistence from candidates and voters, Hopf made the decision to reveal them on Election Night. This came with the caveat that these numbers are unofficial and potentially subject to change. They will not be official until the county does its recount.

Independently affiliated Sean Ryan, who ran on the Republican and independent “Sean Ryan for Saranac Lake” party lines, had an unofficial tally of 481 votes.

Democrat Aurora White, who ran on the Democratic and independent “Team Saranac Lake” party lines, had an unofficial tally of 477 votes.

Democrat Paul Van Cott, who ran on the Democratic and independent “Team Saranac Lake” party lines, had an unofficial tally of 460 votes.

Independently affiliated Katie Stiles, who ran on the Republican and independent “Integrity for Saranac Lake” party lines, had an unofficial tally of 445 votes.

There are two open seats on the board, so only two of them can get elected. With 17 votes making the difference between the second- and third-highest vote-getters, election officials said they could not declare a winner yet.

Fred Balzac, a Democrat, ran a write-in campaign and gathered 34 votes.

On Tuesday night, election workers boxed up the ballots, sealed them shut with duct tape and Hopf signed each one on every side — with part of her signature on the tape, and some on the box — to keep the ballots secure from tampering. These boxes were then locked in a vault until the county election officials can look at them.

Sparks said the five-day recount window might include the weekend, since the board of elections office is open on weekends with early voting for the presidential primary starting on Saturday.

Current members of the village board are Mayor Jimmy Williams, Deputy Mayor Matt Scollin and Trustee Kelly Brunette. Trustees Tom Catillaz and Rich Shapiro did not run for reelection.

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Reactions

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Candidates, voters and election workers on Election Night were shocked with the results. This was Hopf’s first time running an election and it was a stunning result for her to have to manage.

Numerous people commented on the strong community turnout in the election and the strong support for each candidate the results showed.

Asked about the inconclusive result on Tuesday night, White said she was “stressed.”

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “This was not it.”

On Wednesday, she said it was “crazy” they were all so close. She thought she’d know if she was elected on Tuesday night. Now, she’s got to wait for a few more days. But White said she’s still reading the village budget and getting ready.

“If the unofficial results stick, I’m excited to join the board and get to work,” she said.

Van Cott gave his “unofficial congratulations” to Ryan and White, based on the unofficial Tuesday result. He said he looks forward to the next board working together as five members with equal responsibility to build a “constructive and positive government” for the betterment of Saranac Lake.

Van Cott said he felt there was some negative campaigning in the race — not by candidates, but through their “surrogates.”

He said he found Mayor Jimmy Williams’ “11th hour” endorsement of Ryan and Stiles “surprising” and negative ads in the Enterprise “unfortunate.”

“We all need to get behind the next board,” Van Cott said. “That’s how we roll as Saranac Lakers.”

Stiles said she “knew something was up” on Tuesday when the polls closed at 9 p.m., results were expected at 9:30 p.m. and ballots were still being counted until around 10 p.m.

She said each candidate had a good race and said their close result is “remarkable and says something for itself.”

She expects the unofficial numbers are close enough to the true numbers that the results will stick.

Balzac said the turnout was not as large as he had hoped it was. He was not included in a candidate forum because he was not on the ballot but was glad he was interviewed and included in the Enterprise candidate questionnaire.

Balzac hopes the candidates who get the seats consider his views on opposing the Adirondack Park Agency’s planned move to Saranac Lake and trying to keep the emergency service departments where they are, instead of colocating them at a property at 33 Petrova Ave.

“What an amazing turnout,” Ryan said, adding that it speaks to how invested people are right now.

If the unofficial results stand, he said he has lots of homework to do, with plans to get to know the board members better, start speaking with them about the village’s vision for the future and listen to opinions he doesn’t agree with.

Ryan said it was tough to not have finalized results on Election Night and it is tough to have to wait now, but said that he trusts the process.