The ballots from the Nov. 3 general election were officially counted by the Washington County Board of Elections Wednesday, but the results aren't final yet.

Due to the slim margins between candidates, two races will be recounted, elections officials said after Wednesday's canvass.

In order for an automatic recount to take place, the difference between votes cast for candidates or issues must be equal to or less than one-half of 1 percent.

While the Macksburg Village Council race did not fall into this category, the votes for this race will be recounted because three of the candidates, Jerry Williams, Tina Williams and Phyllis Carpenter received 31, 30 and 29 votes respectively.

"We're recounting that because we think it's the right thing to do," said Peggy Byers, director of the Washington County Board of Elections.

Byers said that as it stands now, votes cast in the Warren Local School District Board of Education race will also be recounted. However, the final numbers for this race could change due to the fact that final results for Bern Township in Athens County, which is part of the district, will not be reported until Friday.

There were three seats open in the race, with former district treasurer Sidney Brackenridge and incumbent Bob Allen getting the most votes, 1,557 and 1,396 respectively. Former board member Bob Crum received 1,195 votes, 12 ahead of incumbent Dan McDermott and 22 ahead of Garry L. Marks.

Unofficial election results posted on the Athens County Board of Elections Web site don't show enough votes to change the outcome, but it was not immediately clear how many provisional ballots were in that township or whether they would change the numbers enough to avoid a recount.

Byers said automatic recounts will take place Nov. 30. Any candidate in any race can request a recount, but a $50 fee is required.

Byers said the Caldwell Exempted Village School District Board of Education race will be determined when Noble County reports a final count of votes. Noble County officials will also determine if there will be a recount in the race.

"We're not the most populous county that votes for that race, so they will report the results to us," she said.

Although election officials have made efforts to inform voters where they should go to vote, there were still some voters who cast their ballots in the wrong locations, Byers said.

"We ended up with 24 people whose votes didn't count because they were in the wrong precinct," she said.

Byers said whenever an individual's voting location changes, that person is sent a postcard which indicates the location of their new polling place.

"We're thinking of new ways to resolve the problem," she added.