Ohio race just got closer after county finds hundreds of uncounted votes

Show Caption Hide Caption Special election in Ohio too close to call A special election in Ohio's 12th Congressional District was too close to call early Tuesday. It could produce an automatic recount for Democrat Danny O'Connor and Republican Troy Balderson, who was backed by President Donald Trump. (Aug. 8)

Correction: The number of votes found is 588.

COLUMBUS – The tight race between Democrat Danny O'Connor and Republican Troy Balderson just got tighter.

Election officials in Franklin County found 588 previously uncounted votes in a Columbus suburb. The result: O'Connor had a net gain of 190 votes, bringing the race's margin down to 1,564.

"The votes from a portion of one voting location had not been processed into the tabulation system," according to a Franklin County Board of Elections news release.

Balderson declared victory Tuesday night in the closely watched congressional district race in central Ohio. But O'Connor says he's waiting for all votes to be counted.

That includes 3,435 provisional ballots and 5,048 absentee ballots, which will be tabulated by Aug. 24.

Balderson is backed by President Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The race was surprisingly close for a district that Trump won by 11 percentage points in 2016 and Republicans have held for decades.

If the final results show a margin of 0.5 percent or less, state election officials will hold an automatic recount.