By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BATAVIA - The outcome of two close races could be decided today as Clermont County officials meet to certify results from the Nov. 4 election.

Final, unofficial tallies in the Chilo mayor race have incumbent Shana Stevenson tied with challenger George Seale. Each received 21 votes.

Pierce Township challenger Gregg Conrad was leading incumbent Trustee Bonnie Batchler by one vote, 1,242 to 1,241Dan Bare, director of the Clermont County Board of Elections, said the board would meet at 2:30 p.m. today.

The first thing officials will do - if necessary - is flip a coin to break any ties that might still exist, as specified by Ohio law.

On Monday, Clermont election workers began a check of all the Nov. 4 ballots to make sure the votes were correctly recorded. They also started counting provisional ballots that had been segregated from other votes cast on Election Day.

Provisional ballots are used for registered voters who still live within the county, but whose address has changed, Bare said.

Following certification, if the difference between opposing candidates is less than one-half of 1 percent of the total votes cast, there will be an automatic recount on Dec. 1.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com