Washington County Board of Elections Director Mandy Amos congratulated Washington County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mark Warden on his Republican primary win at the Board of Elections Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)

MARIETTA — Washington County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mark Warden was announced as the winner for the Republican primary for Washington County Sheriff after a mandatory recount Wednesday afternoon at the Washington County Board of Elections.

“It’s a relief that it’s over with and now we can get to work on implementing my campaign strategy,” Warden said after the announcement.

Former Washington County Jail Administrator Greg Nohe was represented by Columbus area attorney Terry Casey. Calls to his office were sent to voicemail.

During the March 19 primary, 10,879 votes were cast in the election. Warden received 5,450 votes, and Nohe received 5,429 votes, a difference of 21. After a canvass meeting and election certification April 2, the margin was still 21, 5,489 to 5,468.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, if the number of margin of votes between candidates is 0.05% or less, an automatic recount is triggered. The code also requires at least 5% of the ballots to be recounted.

Washington County Board of Elections Director Mandy Amos, left, and Deputy Director Karen Pawloski, right, look at electronic copies of ballots during a recount for the Washington County Sheriff’s Republican primary race Wednesday morning. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

“We thought about doing a recount of all 50 precincts, but it would have taken us days,” deputy elections director Karen Pawloski said. “The board decided to count the 5%.”

Pawloski said the votes were counted by two teams: Board of Elections Director Mandy Amos and administrative assistant Melissa Saltzwedel counted Warden’s votes, while Pawloski and administrative assistant Emily Webb counted for Nohe. The board chose three precincts at random to count – Belpre 1A, Marietta 2A, and Warren South. The margin was still 21 votes after the counting was over.

“We’re proud of the results. I think it shows our process works,” Pawloski said. “Both teams came up with the same results.”

Ryan Shillito, a representative from RBM Consulting, the vendor of the voting software and machines used by Washington County, was also present at the announcement.

“We are very pleased, quite frankly, with the equipment we have and the way folks run it, both at the polling locations and the staff here that prepare the equipment and review it afterwards,” Board of Elections Member Dennis Sipe said of working with RBM, poll workers and the elections office.

Sipe said the county has received a 100% rating in previous audits of their vote counting.

Warden will run as the Republican candidate in November’s general election and no Democrat has filed. Pawloski said a write-in candidate could apply to run against him, but the Sheriff’s Office has certain requirements to meet such as law enforcement experience.

Michelle Dillon contributed to this report.

Kristen Hainkel can be reached at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com