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Villenova awaits tie-breaker

MAYVILLE — There was only one tie reported in Chautauqua County as of Tuesday night: the race for a vacancy on the Villenova Town Council. In August, Yvonne M. Park, former town supervisor, was appointed to the council after Councilman Wesley Tessey unexpectedly resigned, and she is to fill the vacancy until the end of the year, as the seat was up for re-election on Tuesday.

The two candidates in the running for the council seat are Park, who is endorsed by the Republican party, and John Dudley Robinson, Sr., who is endorsed by the Democratic party.

Both Park and Robinson received 190 votes each as of Tuesday night.

According to Chautauqua County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Norman P. Green, the race will now be determined by the absentee and affidavit votes. “Twenty absentee ballots were sent out, and 16 are back,” Green told the OBSERVER on Wednesday. “We also received one affidavit back, so there are 17 total at this moment, but it could go as high as 21. That’s good because hopefully that means we won’t have a tie again.”

Green explained that should the absentee and affidavit votes result in a second tie, the situation would be deemed a “failure to elect.” Someone would have to be appointed to the seat by Town Supervisor Richard Ardillo.

“Right now, we’re working on certifying all of the votes,” Green said. “Our goal is to be wrapped up and certified before we go home for Thanksgiving. Starting Monday, Nov. 19, we can count the absentees. At 11 a.m. on the 19th, we will open them. By 11:15 a.m., we’ll know who won the Villenova race and will post it online.” To view the local, county and state-wide election results, visit chautauquacounty.com/BOE/Results/results.htm.

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