Today is Nov. 8, 2023.

Hi, it’s us again. We’re publishing a second time today because there were serious problems with the Summit County Board of Elections website Tuesday night. This led them to report incorrect election results across the county, including here in Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake.

Here’s what happened:

• The BOE website experienced a software bug at some point during the evening of Nov. 7 that led to inaccurate reporting of results. Ideastream wrote about the glitch here.

• The site reported all results as “Complete” with 100% of precincts in — and not just in our communities but throughout Summit County.

• Newly minted Stow City Council Member Kyle Herman told The Spotlight this morning that the Summit County Board of Elections website had incorrectly reported early and absentee votes as the complete tally Tuesday night.

• Problem was, we in the media in Northeast Ohio didn’t know there was an issue with the board of elections website and reported these results as the final unofficial tally. The BOE gave no indication that the vote totals were incomplete.

• This resulted in communities throughout Summit County getting incorrect election information. Mogadore, for example, was reported on Cleveland television news Wednesday morning as having passed its school levy when, in fact, the levy failed.

In our neck of the woods, the BOE’s website glitch directly altered the outcome in two local races. The affected candidates were:

• Stow City Council Members Jeremy McIntire and David A. Licate. McIntire, who serves as council president, was originally reported by the board of elections website as having fallen short in his bid to earn re-election, while Licate was reported to have won re-election to the board.

• But after the website glitch was fixed and all the votes tallied, the outcome was reversed: McIntire has in fact earned re-election, capturing the third and final open at-large seat, while Licate lost his re-election bid, finishing fourth in the at-large race.

• However, even with McIntire’s re-election and Licate’s loss, the night remains a victory for Mayor John Pribonic and the Democrats. Four of the seven candidates Pribonic endorsed for city council were victorious, flipping control of that body over to the Democrats.

• Regarding Munroe Falls City Council Members John Hegnauer and Adam VanHo, The BOE website glitch had given VanHo a one-vote victory over Hegnauer for the second and final open at-large seat. With the glitch corrected and all votes counted, that outcome has also flipped, with Hegnauer, the incumbent, defeating VanHo.

• The board of elections website glitch did not affect the outcomes of any additional races or ballot issues in The Spotlight’s coverage area, but it significantly changed the vote totals and margins of victory.

Here’s the corrected election tally:

So with the Summit County Board of Elections website glitch corrected, here are the updated results from the election (winners in all caps and bold type; asterisk denotes incumbent):

CITY OF STOW

• Mayor — *JOHN PRIBONIC (unopposed): 100% (11,856).

• Director of Finance — KELLY TOPPIN (unopposed): 100% (9,939).

• Director of Law — *JAIME MARIE SYX (unopposed): 100% (9,930).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 3) — *CYLE FELDMAN: 22.49% (6,281); KYLE HERMAN: 21.82% (6,094); *JEREMY MCINTIRE: 19.90% (5,560); *David A. Licate: 19.38% (5,415); Scott Simpkins: 16.41% (4,584).

• Ward 1 Council (vote for 1) — *MATT RIEHL: 60.28% (1,830); Nick Stoiber: 39.72% (1,206).

• Ward 2 Council (vote for 1) — KELLY COFFEY: 57.56% (2,133); *Sindi Harrison: 42.44% (1,573).

• Ward 3 Council (vote for 1) — JOHN M. BARANEK: 51.48% (1,219); *Brian Lowdermilk: 48.52% (1,149).

• Ward 4 Council (vote for 1) — *MARIO FIOCCA: 59.22% (1,779); Jared Miller: 40.78% (1,225).

CITY OF MUNROE FALLS

• Mayor (vote for 1) — *ALLEN MAVRIDES: 44.43% (882); Jim Iona: 30.78% (611); Mike Barnes: 24.79% (492).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 2) — DINA EDWARDS: 41.66% (1,104); *JOHN HEGNAUER: 31.02% (822); Adam VanHo: 27.32% (724).

• Ward 2 Council — BOB POST (write-in; unopposed): 100% (131).

• Ward 3 Council — *AL PRINCE (unexpired term to end 12-31-2025; unopposed): 100% (489).

VILLAGE OF SILVER LAKE

• Mayor (vote for 1) — THERESE DUNPHY: 74.14% (966); Annmarie Lann: 25.86% (337).

• Council-At-Large (vote for 3) — *BETSY MEYER: 29.85% (738); *CHRISTOPHER SCOTT: 21.44% (530); SUZANNE GARRETT: 17.31% (428); James Kurtz: 16.55% (409); Wesley JD Perry: 14.85% (367).

STOW-MUNROE FALLS CITY SCHOOL BOARD

• (vote for 3) — *NANCY BROWN: 28.16% (7,803); *KARI SUHADOLNIK: 25.66% (7,109); MIKE SHEEHAN: 24.32% (6,739); Mike Daniels: 21.86% (6,057).

STOW BALLOT ISSUES

• ISSUE 28: Transparency in Government (charter amendment requiring the streaming of meetings of council, committees, boards and commissions of the city) — YES: 86.04% (11,582); No: 13.96% (1,879).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 21.09 “TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT” of Article XXI “GENERAL PROVISIONS” of the Charter of the City of Stow be established (as listed below): ARTICLE XXI GENERAL PROVISIONS. SECTION 21.09 TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT. As of January 1, 2024, all meetings of municipal bodies, including City Council, and all City Boards, Commissions, and Committees (chartered or codified) shall commence live public broadcasting and recording of all their public meetings. “Live public broadcasting” means the live audio and video transmission of a public meeting over the internet in its entirety, without editing. Public meetings or portions of public meetings that by law are held in executive session shall be exempt from the requirements of this section. Municipal bodies shall remain responsible for determining the time and place of their meetings so long as they remain in compliance with the requirements of this section.”

• ISSUE 29: State of the City Address (charter amendment for the mayor to provide the State of the City address at a city council meeting so it is on the official city record) — YES: 87.77% (11,737); No: 12.23% (1,635).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 3.08 “STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS” of Article III “MAYOR” of the Charter of the City of Stow be established (as listed below): ARTICLE III MAYOR. SECTION 3.08 STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS. The Mayor shall provide the City of Stow Council members and the city residents with a “State of the City Address” on an annual basis to be held at the first regularly scheduled meeting of Council in March of each year. A written copy of the address shall be provided to the Clerk of Council on or before the meeting date.”

• ISSUE 30: Clerk of Council (charter amendment for the clerk of council’s office to be in City Hall and near Council Chambers) — YES: 82.98% (10,686); No: 17.02% (2,192).
  — Full Text: “Shall Section 4.05 “CLERK OF COUNCIL” of Article IV “THE COUNCIL” of the Charter of the City of Stow be stricken and rewritten (language to be stricken through and language to be amended or added is bolded): ARTICLE IV THE COUNCIL. SECTION 4.05 CLERK OF COUNCIL. A Clerk of Council shall be appointed by, and may be removed by, Council. The Clerk’s office shall be in City Hall, adjacent to the Council Chambers and the Clerk shall devote the time and effort as determined by Council during business hours, and such other times as are necessary, to properly conduct the business of City Council. The Clerk of Council shall keep an accurate and complete journal of all proceedings of Council, authenticate by his/her signature and have custody of all laws, ordinances, and resolutions of Council, have custody of all official documents, reports, papers, communications, and files of Council, and perform such other duties as Council shall require. During the absence or disability of the Clerk of Council, Council shall appoint someone to perform all the duties of that office.”

Thanks for bearing with us. Sometimes these things happen — and a computer glitch on Election Day couldn’t be worse timing — but in the Digital Age we are at the mercy of technology whether we like it or not. All is corrected now (fingers crossed), so it’s on to next Thursday for The Spotlight. See you then!

Tom Hardesty
[email protected]