The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has certified the recall of East Cleveland’s mayor and council president, and newly-counted ballots did not change the result.
Before certifying the vote, the board counted 16 provisional ballots and four absentee ballots that came in after election day but were postmarked early enough to qualify.
A slim majority of those broke in favor of keeping Mayor Gary Norton and Council President Thomas Wheeler in office. But that wasn’t enough to flip the results.
Norton and Wheeler will leave their jobs, and Council Vice President Brandon King will take office as mayor.
And city council plans to appoint two new members to the body. Council has issued a request for resumes and lists a four-year college degree as a prerequisite. The deadline to apply is Dec. 27.
