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Provisional ballots totals

With nearly 200 provisional ballots and the potential for late-mailed absentee ballots still to be counted from Tuesday's general election, it's remotely possible that some Washington County races could be turned around.

Incumbent Belpre Councilwoman Deborah Marshall, D-2nd Ward, outdistanced Republican challenger Stephen Rogers by 10 votes, according to the final but unofficial results of Tuesday's contest, but 12 provisional ballots cast by voters in the 2nd Ward won't be tallied until Nov. 18.

"I'm always concerned when there's only a 10-vote lead, but I'm hoping the people in my ward have been pleased with my service and will have supported me," Marshall said on Wednesday.

"I've never been in this situation before," she said. "We expected to win by a bigger margin."

Marshall is not alone - it's mathematically possible that the outcomes of five other close races across the county could also be changed when the provisional ballots are counted.

Peggy Byers, director of the Washington County Board of Elections, explained how ballots become provisional.

"People may have moved and changed their address," she said. "Their name may have changed since the last election, or maybe they had no identification when they came to the polls.

"Also, someone could have registered to vote absentee, but then they voted at the polls. In that case we would have to make sure that they didn't vote twice," Byers said.

"We allow those people to vote, but the ballots are considered provisional until we can verify their information," she said.

Once verified, provisional ballots are tallied as part of the election board's final vote count.

"Some absentee ballots could also arrive in the mail after the general election," Byers added. "Absentee ballots postmarked by midnight Nov. 2 have 10 days to come in and still be counted."

A special meeting of the Washington County Board of Elections is scheduled at 3 p.m. Nov. 18 to release the final official ballot count for Tuesday's election.

Evan Bevins contributed to this story.