LISBON — Columbiana County Board of Elections board member Greg Smith of Salem resigned Friday effective today, with the Columbiana County Republican Party Central Committee expected to name a replacement.

Smith joined the board in March 2025 and said he was resigning for health reasons for his battle against cancer and to join the campaign of Robert Sprague, the current Ohio Treasurer who’s running for Ohio Secretary of State.

In his letter of resignation, Smith said, “It has been an honor and privilege to serve on the Board of Elections. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the integrity and administration of our electoral process, and to work alongside such dedicated colleagues committed to public service. I remain fully supportive of the board’s mission and will do everything I can to ensure a smooth and orderly transition during this period.”

His unexpired four-year term doesn’t expire until Feb. 28, 2029.

The job of replacing him falls to the Republican party since he was a Republican. The board is made up of two Republicans and two Democrats. The staff is also equally bi-partisan, with Director Kim Fusco a Democrat and Deputy Director Niki Wilkinson a Republican, and then two Democratic and two Republican clerks.

Fusco thanked Smith for his service and his time as a board member.

“Appreciate you being here and enjoyed working with you,” board member Charley Kidder, the county Democratic Party chairman, said.

Board Vice Chairman Patricia Colian, a Democrat, also thanked Smith for his service to the board.

Chairman David Johnson, the county Republican Party Chairman, was unable to attend the meeting.

In other business, the board certified the results of the audit performed on the races for Democrat Attorney General, Republican Governor and Republican Justice of the Supreme Court Full Term. The audit, which is mandatory now after an election, requires 5% of the results be handcounted, which the staff did in three two-person bipartisan teams on Thursday.

“Everything came out exactly 100%,” Fusco said, adding, “It’s just a proven point that what the hand and eye sees is what the machine sees.”

The handcount and total audit only took an hour and she was proud that their accuracy was 100%.

Wilkinson pointed out that during the handcount, they’re doing three separate counts for each race, for election day, absentee and provisional.

The state had already selected the Republican governor’s race and the Democrat Attorney General’s race for the audit, with the board selecting the Republican Supreme Court as the third race to handcount.

For the Republican governor’s race, 8,843 ballots were cast, with 5% being 442 ballots. For the Democratic attorney general’s race, 3,330 ballots were cast, with 5% being 166 ballots. For the Republican supreme court full term race, 7,981 ballots were cast, with 5% being 399 ballots.

The board had randomly selected which precincts to count by hand to reach the 5% number necessary by rolling dice. Precincts selected were Unity Township Northwest, Liverpool Township East and St. Clair Township Calcutta.

Fusco also shared some numbers with the board for the 4,047 voters who changed for the primary, including 1,354 new Republican voters who had not voted before, 1,201 new Democratic voters who hadn’t voted before, 425 Republicans who changed to Democrat, and 136 Democrats who changed to Republican.