The November general election, as far as local races go, is nearing the end, as a recanvass of votes will take place this Thursday morning, according to Clinton County Clerk Nathan Collins.

When the election votes had been tallied on Tuesday, November 3, there were 37 paper absentee ballots that had been requested and sent to Clinton County voters, that had not been received either through the U.S. Postal Service, or by being dropped off at the courthouse drop box or delivered personally to his office.

Clinton County Clerk Nathan Collins has reported that none of the 37 ballots that were not received by election day, arrived at the Clerk’s office by the state deadline to be counted of Friday, November 6 at 4:00 p.m.

The deadline for seek a recanvass of votes in any election was Tuesday, November 10, at 4 p.m. (too late for press deadline). However, the county clerk said that Lydia Sue Irwin, incumbent school board member in District 2, has filed with his office for a recanvass of votes as of Monday of this week.

Election night totals show that her opponent, first-time candidate Ronald Albertson, had carried the district by a single vote, with Albertson receiving 281 votes to Irwin’s 280 votes.

Election night results showed in early voting that Albertson received 205 votes to Irwin’s 183; election day vote totals had Albertson winning by four votes, 29 to 25, but on absentees, Irwin had carried those that had been returned by a margin of 62 to 47.

There were two other school board seats to be filled, but board chairman Leslie Stockton and board member Gary Norris were each unopposed in District 3 and District 6, respectively.

Also, four Soil Conservation District board seats were filled with three candidates having filed and two running as write-ins. None of the votes in that race were extremely close.

There were no other local races that would seem close enough to warrant a recanvass request, especially since no more absentee ballots had been returned as of last Friday’s deadline.

The closest other local race in the November election was the sixth and seventh position for Albany City Council, with the sixth position, won by Sarah Wilson Browning, filling the seat.

Browning finished with 55 votes more than Scott York, who was in seventh place, with Browning receiving 416 votes to York’s 361 votes in that city-wide election.

A recanvass of the school board race will take place at 9 a.m. Thursday, November 12, in the County Clerk’s Office, of both the machine totals being checked and the absentee paper ballots that were returned being rechecked for accuracy.

(Results of the recanvass will be announced in next week’s Clinton County News.)