Richfield voters will have to wait a little longer to be absolutely sure of who will be their next mayor.
In a special election Tuesday, City Council President Bobbie Beshara garnered the most votes, according to the Summit County Board of Election’s unofficial tally, but some uncounted votes could change the outcome.
Voters cast 558 ballots for Beshara and 552 for Ralph Waszak Sr., the former mayor. That six-vote difference isn’t enough to trigger an automatic recount, Summit County election director Ron Koehler said.
The board, however, has not counted four provisional ballots, confirmed one absentee ballot that is in question or given three other absentee ballots the opportunity to arrive at the office with a postmark of Monday or earlier. Those votes could sway the contest or require a recount.
If the vote stands, Beshara would replace Mayor Michael Lyons, who could not run again due to term limits.
Beshara and Waszak were among five candidates seeking to replace Lyons in the Nov. 8 general election.
After that election, Beshara led with 508 votes, or 33 percent of the 1,542 votes cast. Waszak garnered 467 votes, or about 30 percent.
But an unusual provision in the village charter, which voters passed in 1990, requires a winner to have a majority of the votes cast, or have 40 percent of the vote and be at least 5 percentage points ahead of second place.
Beshara did not meet either of those conditions, leading to the do-over between her and Waszak.
This is the second time Richfield voters had to vote twice for mayor.
When Lyons was elected eight years ago, he had 46 percent of the vote, but his second-place opponent had 43 percent. A third candidate collected the rest. Lyons then won the runoff election.
Beshara and Waszak could not be reached Tuesday due to a late Village Council meeting.