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TOLEDO -- On Monday, the Lucas County Board of Elections certified Democrat Carol Contrada as the winner of the open Lucas County Commissioner seat. 

This amounted to a stunning reversal of fortune for Ms. Contrada who was behind by 1,355 votes after Election night.  Contrada was declared the winner after  Board of Elections officials counted nearly 4,000 provisional ballots. 

The lion's share of those  provisional ballots went to Contrada turning her 1,355 vote deficit into a 191 vote win over her Republican opponent Toledo City Councilman George Sarantou. "I was surprised and delighted with the final vote count but I am waiting to have it confirmed through the recount and I certainly want to make sure that the integrity of the vote is protected," Ms. Contrada said. 

For his part, Sarantou is not happy with how the provisional ballots were handled.  "I do have some serious concerns about the provisional ballots and my team is looking at everything and we'll be making some decisions in the near future," Mr. Sarantou said.  Because the margin of victory was less than than one half a percent an automatic recount has been triggered. 

Over the course of three days starting next Tuesday five percent of ballots randomly chosen from precincts throughout the county will be recounted.  However Jeremy Demagall, Deputy Director of the Lucas County Board of Elections said it was unlikely that the recount would lead to another reversal of election results.  "I don't think it's very possible at all," Mr. Demagall said.