Voters won’t have to wait much longer to learn the official outcome of the Nov. 7 general election.

According to Clermont County Board of Elections Director Mike Keeley, the board will convene Tuesday, Nov. 28 to certify the results.

While the outcomes of most races may be fairly certain already, at least one race is close enough to have some on the edge of their seats.

In the race for the 2nd Congressional District, Republican incumbent Jean Schmidt is leading her challenger, Democrat Dr. Victoria Wulsin, by a mere 2,865 votes.

Wulsin’s campaign feels that with approximately 8,600 provisional ballots yet to be counted across the seven-county district, there is still a chance for victory.

Provisional ballots are given to voters when there is some question about their eligibility to vote in a particular precinct. The ballots are kept separate from the regular ballots and are not counted on election night.

Questions about eligibility may arise because a voter has moved, even within the same precinct, since the last election.

“The Help America Vote Act mandated that we mail a card out to every registered voter,” Keeley said. “Voters whose cards were returned to us (as undeliverable) were required to vote with a provisional ballot.”

After the election, the county board of elections makes an effort to verify that each provisional ballot was cast by a properly registered voter. Ballots cast by voters whose eligibility to vote can be verified are then counted and added to the official tally.

“We hope to start counting tomorrow (Tuesday) and then its just several hours of manual labor to get them opened and put through the counting machine” Keeley said.

According to Keeley, there are normally about 300-500 provisional ballots cast in Clermont County each election. This year, the board of elections is facing the task of verifying 2,322 provisional ballots. Keeley attributes the increase to aggressive voter turnout drives and to the new HAVA voter verification card requirement.

State law dictates that elections must be certified no later than 21 days after an election.