MILTON, Pa. — Democrat Tom Aber is Milton's new mayor.
"I can't believe it," Aber said.
The Milton mayor race was the closest Northumberland County Director of Elections Nathan Savidge has ever seen. After Tuesday's initial count, Aber received 595 votes, and Republican Joe Moralez received 594 votes. But there were three provisional ballots, which had to be reviewed.
"That manual review in Northumberland County determined that three of those provisional ballots counted, so if everybody in those provisional ballots had voted, it would have yielded a tie," Savidge said.
If there had been a tie, a coin toss would have determined the next mayor of Milton. But all three provisional ballots were for Aber.
"It's very happy. I can't believe it," Aber said.
Voter turnout in Northumberland County was low—only 29 percent for this election. Both candidates hope this encourages more people to vote next time.
"It makes people think that, 'Oh, I do have a say, and my vote does actually count.' That's a great outcome of what happened. I think it will get more people involved," Joe Moralez said.
"Your vote counts, big time," Aber said.
"The chief executive of a borough of around 7,000 to 8,000 people was decided by those three votes, and it is important, and every vote does matter," Savidge said.
Even though a tied race would have been interesting, Aber says that he is glad it did not come down to that.
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