For several local political races deemed too close to call following Tuesday's Election Day voting, nearly 800 unopened absentee ballots are all that's left to push one side to victory.

Democratic Cayuga County Board of Elections Commissioner Katie Lacey said officials will begin counting those absentee ballots on Monday, a process that could continue through Friday.

Officials will start their work in Owasco, where Republican and Conservative party candidate Ed Wagner is hoping nearly 100 absentee ballots can help him overcome a 26-vote deficit in his race against incumbent Democrat and Independence party candidate John Klink for town supervisor.

Officials will also follow up on too-close-to-call town council races in Owasco, Sennett, Conquest and Niles, a Montezuma town supervisor race and a Throop highway superintendent race.

“We have a lot of interest in those races, people want to know the results,” Lacey said.

Tallying absentee votes in legislative races will come next, followed by a proposition in Auburn to allow the city to raise the amount of money it can spend or borrow for public-utility projects.

Absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 must be received by Tuesday to be counted, but Lacey said she believed most absentee ballots sent out were accounted for as of Friday evening.

Once absentee ballots are in, officials will verify that the voters are registered within their district before counting them. Absentee ballots are counted in a fashion to ensure anonymity of the voter.

“It's a very tedious process,” Lacey said. “The absentee ballots are similar to the machine ballots. You're looking at row after row of little colored-in boxes. It's really tedious and straining on the eyes.”

To further ensure accuracy, officials will not be alone when they count the ballots, and candidates are allowed to watch the counts involving their races.

Candidates can object to an individual ballot being counted if they believe it is invalid or illegally marked, but Lacey said the elections board typically counts a vote as long as it's clear what the voters' intentions were.

“Our attitude is if you can tell how they voted or intended to vote, the vote counts,” Lacey said. “We are not here to disenfranchise people who took their time to go to the polls.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net

Filling in the blanks

The following results were updated late Thursday afternoon by the Cayuga County Board of Elections after complete returns were delayed.

COUNTY LEGISLATOR DIST. 5

Paul W. Pinckney (R, C, GF) 674 46.90%

Paul Schenck (I) 483 33.61%

Phil Dello Stritto (D) 280 19.49%

COUNTY LEGISLATOR DIST. 7

George C. Fearon (R, CS) 667 62.22%

Barbara Abbott King (D, I) 405 37.78%

FLEMING SUPERVISOR

Gary Searing (D, I, C) 473 100%

FLEMING CLERK/COLLECTOR

Charleen Dygert (D, I, C) 570 100%

FLEMING JUSTICE

David P. Wawrzaszek (R) 445 100%

FLEMING ASSESSOR

Frederick J. Farrell (D, R) 541 100%

FLEMING HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT

Paul A. Chipman (R, C) 501 100%

FLEMING MEMBER OF COUNCIL (Vote for 2)

Gerald S. Dudek (D, I, C) 472 54.63%

Arthur L. Fritz (R) 392 45.37%

LEDYARD SUPERVISOR

Mark B. Jordan (R) 215 100%

LEDYARD CLERK

Rosemarie Belforti (R, C) 214 100%

LEDYARD JUSTICE

Donald E. Rafferty (R) 220 100%

LEDYARD MEMBER OF COUNCIL (Vote for 2)

John P. Binns (R) 202 50.12%

Paul G. Hilliard (R) 201 49.88%

LEDYARD COLLECTOR

Deborah M. Brooks (R) 210 100%

LEDYARD HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT

James E. Bailey (R) 212 100%

Too close to call

Results for several local races and one ballot question have come down to a few votes, which means absentee ballots have a reasonable chance to change the final outcome. Counting of absentees starts Monday:

AUBURN QUESTION NUMBER ONE (expand utility project spending, borrowing cap)

YES 1,245 50.16%

NO 1,237 49.84%

CONQUEST MEMBER OF COUNCIL (Vote for 2)

Thomas R. Kincaid (D) 152 31.28%

Dorothy A. Watts (R, C) 117 24.07%

Ryan T. Moon (D) 111 22.84%

Sharlene F. Reynolds (R, C) 106 21.81%

MONTEZUMA SUPERVISOR

John R. Malenick (D) 158 51.30%

Lester E. Brew III (R) 150 48.70%

NILES MEMBER OF COUNCIL (Vote for 2)

Barbara A. Eberhardt (R) 210 42.51%

Alberta Winters (C) 146 29.55%

Jonathan D. Weed (R) 138 27.94%

OWASCO SUPERVISOR

John J. Klink (D, I) 705 50.94%

Ed Wagner Jr. (R, C) 679 49.06%

OWASCO MEMBER OF COUNCIL (VOTE FOR 2)

Anthony R. Gucciardi (R) 716 26.89%

Terrance Lattimore (D, I, C) 693 26.02%

Amy M. Fuller (R) 669 25.12%

Arthur Richardson (D, I) 585 21.97%

SENNETT MEMBER OF COUNCIL (VOTE FOR 2)

Jeffrey L. Gage (D, I) 575 28.02%

John O'Connell III (D, I) 550 26.80%

Susan Tanner (R, C) 545 26.56%

Sylvia S. Wilson (R) 382 18.62%

THROOP HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT

Paul Westmiller (D) 256 50.39%

Allen J. McBride (R, C) 252 49.61%