5 votes separate Pinckneyville mayoral candidates with 27 absentee ballots still out there

Voters won't know for sure until April 21 who the winner is in Tuesday's Pinckneyville mayoral election.

As of Tuesday night, Robert Spencer was leading longtime city clerk Fran Thomas by five votes 451-446, but with 27 absentee ballots still floating around out there, there's a remote possibility that could change.

Those 27 ballots are countywide and are not just specific to the Pinckneyville election.

Some of the ballots were probably mailed out, but never cast and returned. Any ballots that are being returned have to have been postmarked no later than Monday, April 6.

Elections director Tory Woods in the office of County Clerk Josh Gross said any absentee ballots coming in after the Tuesday, April 7 vote are being checked for a postmark and are then being date stamped to keep track of when they were mailed and when they were received.

The ballots will be kept together, then will all be fed into the vote counting machine on Tuesday April 21. After that, the final vote canvas will be done and certified.

Either candidate can file a petition for a recount.

With that said, any of the elections across the county could change a little bit.

The election of either Robert Spencer or Fran Thomas for mayor in Pinckneyville will be historic--the first woman or the first African American. Voters chose Spencer, a highly respected community leader, by only a five-vote margin (451-446) in the votes already counted.

Unopposed William Stotlar was elected accounts and finance commissioner (769 votes). Kevin Hicks defeated James Shillinger (480-399 votes) for public health and safety commissioner. Sammy Peradotta defeated Joe Holder (545-308 votes) for streets commissioner. David Stone defeated Ruben Davis (526-358 votes) for public property commissioner.