Hart dominating Connell council race

CONNELL — Candidate Preston Hart has a commanding lead in the Aug. 1 primary election race for City Council Position No. 5. but it's a dead heat to see who will be the runner-up.

After the end of the first day of counting Tuesday, Hart had 108 votes, or 51.92%. His count exceeded the tally for the remaining two candidates, Patrice Hebel and Stephanie Hallman.

The women were tied for second with 48 votes each, or 23.08%.

Election officials said late-arriving ballots should break the tie before the election is certified Aug. 15.

Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the Nov. 7 general election.

The Franklin County Auditor's Office Election Department sent ballots to 1,184 registered voters in Connell. So, there are a potential 976 ballots that could still be counted.

An estimated 51 late-arriving ballots are already in-house and will be counted in the coming days.

So far, Connell voter turnout is only 17.65%, the Elections Department reported.

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