Election Day is over, but a few Schoharie County races won’t be decided until next Tuesday, November 17.
That’s the day county Election Commissioners Lew Wilson and Cliff Hay will count absentee, military and affidavit ballots at the Board of Elections.
The ballot-opening should settle––unless there’s a tie––the races for county sheriff and Cobleskill and Richmondville supervisors.
In Cobleskill, Democrat Tom Murray led Republican Linda Angell by nine votes, 657 to 648, in unofficial totals last Tuesday.
There was a report late last Tuesday that Ms. Angell had asked to have Cobleskill’s voting machines impounded. There was no impoundment, Mr. Wilson said.
“We decided it wasn’t worth it,” said Mr. Wilson, also the Republican Party chairman.
Richmondville’s race is even closer than Cobleskill’s. Democrat Scott Bennett led incumbent Republican John Barlow by only two votes, 331 to 329, when polls closed last Tuesday..
Though it’s not as close as the two supervisor races, the election of a new sheriff could come down to the absentee and military ballots.
Tony Desmond, running on the Democratic line, led Republican Bill Slater 4,019 to 3,929 in unofficial totals last Tuesday. That’s a margin of just 90 votes out of nearly 8,000 cast.
The Board of Elections is re-canvassing each county election district and adding in absentee and military ballots.
There were 332 absentee and military ballots, some which have been counted. On Tuesday, the Board of Elections will open the 49 remaining absentee and military ballots.
Those ballots––plus the 332 earlier ones––may decide the close races.
Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hay and other election officials will open the ballots at 9am Tuesday at the Board of Elections.

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County officials released two corrections or clarifications to unofficial totals from last Tuesday.
• Returns showed no results for Brian Kaiser, who was running for a councilman seat on the Cobleskill Town Board.
Corrected results show Mr. Kaiser with 395 votes. Republicans Ryan McAllister and Sherwood Veith had 882 and 745, respectively, and were the winners. Patricia Adams had 322 votes.
• In Richmondville, results were unclear in the race to fill an unexpired councilman’s term. Winner Todd Sperbeck had 416 votes; Betsy Bernocco had 218.